Many people still think of Kimberley as the diamond capital of the world, although nowadays there are very few diamond-mines in operation and their output is declining. Yet the extraordinary story of the origins of the city and the fact that the foundations of South Africa's wealth were laid here still draw numbers of visitors from far and wide.
Situated on the highveld, on the boundary between the Northern Cape Province and the Orange Free State, Kimberley is a convenient stopover on the road from Cape Town to Johannesburg. It is also easily reached by air; the airport is only 10km/ 6mi southwest of the city center (no regular bus services).
In addition to diamonds, a major source of income is stock-farming. Kimberley is also the chief town and administrative center of the Northern Cape Province.
The first diamonds in Kimberley were found in 1869 and 1870 on farms in the area, and this sparked off an unprecedented diamond rush. In 1871 prospectors struck it lucky on a farm belonging to the de Beer brothers and on a neighboring hill. The hill was then completely dug away, and mining continued ever deeper into the ground, eventually creating the shaft known as the Big Hole. By 1872 there were more than 50,000 diamond-miners in the area, and in the following year the settlement, previously known as theBig Rush, was given its present name, after the then British colonial secretary, the Earl of Kimberley. Thereafter Kimberley developed at a fantastic rate, and by 1900 the tented settlement had become a flourishing city. Electric street lighting was introduced in 1882, and the town's first trams ran in 1887.
By 1914, when it was closed down, the Big Hole alone had produced 14.5 million carats of diamonds. In the course of time De Beers Consolidated Mines, a company founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1880, had taken over most of the Kimberley diamond mines.
Although Kimberley is a city in which incalculable wealth has been produced, the city center with its narrow (by South African standards) streets does not reflect that wealth. The main office blocks and department stores are round Market Square, from which it is a short walk (or ride on the old-style Kimberley Tram) to the focal point of Kimberley's diamond fever, the Big Hole. Very different from the central area is the grand residential district of Belgravia, southeast of the city center. Here, in addition to the handsome villas set in gardens, are a number of interesting museums.
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