Cape Town (in Afrikaans Kaapstad), situated at the southwestern tip of the African continent, is for many people one of the world's most beautiful cities, thanks mainly to its magnificent setting against the majestic backdrop of Table Mountain. But Cape Town has much else to offer: there are a
number of front-rank sights in the city itself and its immediate surroundings, and the beaches on the Cape Peninsula and in False Bay are among the most beautiful in South Africa. At least a week should be allowed for exploring the attractions of Cape Town.
Cape Town is the second largest city in South Africa (after Johannesburg - and excluding Soweto from the definition of a city) and the oldest European settlement in southern Africa, Parliament sits here during the first half of the year (in Pretoria during the rest of the year). Cape Town is also chief town of the Western Cape Province, with numerous government offices, the see of Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops and a major cultural center, with two universities, technical colleges and many state and private schools.
It is the only town on the African continent south of the Equator in which whites and people of mixed race form the majority of the population. Peculiar to the Cape are the Cape Malays, the descendants of slaves brought in from Indonesia, with cultural traditions of Islamic stamp.
Cape Town plays an important part in the economy of South Africa. The commercial and fishing port, with ultra-modern loading and discharging facilities, is the largest in the country after Durban. Most of South Africa's fruit exports are shipped from here.
Cape Town's industrial areas lie mainly to the north and east of the city. Its industries include oil processing, concrete factories, the production of fertilizers and chemicals, textiles and the clothing industry, electronics and various light industries.
Many banks, insurance corporations, printing firms and publishers have their headquarters in the city. Tourism is now one of the most important sources of income.
Cape Town is the starting-point of two important roads: N 1, which runs northeast for 2000km/1240mi, passing through Johannesburg and ending at Messina, on the frontier with Zimbabwe, and N 2, which runs up the coast of the Indian Ocean into Swaziland.
Cape Town's International Airport (formerly D. F. Malan) is less than a half-hour's drive southeast of the city. There are regular bus services between the South African Airways terminal in Adderley Street and the airport.
The railroad station is in Adderley Street. There are frequent services to the outer districts on the Cape Peninsula to the south, to the False Bay coast as far as Simon's Town and to the outer districts to the north as far as Bellville. Cape Town is also the departure point of the luxurious Blue Train which runs between Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.
There are also regular services by luxuriously equipped buses from Cape Town into the interior of the country.
Summer is warm and dry, and sometimes hot; winter is like a northern April, with low temperatures, rain and cold winds. The climatic pattern is influenced by the two marine currents which meet on the southwest coast of Africa: the warm Agulhas Current, coming from the Equator, which flows along the east coast, and the cold Benguela Current, coming from the icebergs of the Antarctic, which washes the west coast.
During the summer Cape Town is regularly visited by the "Cape doctor", a strong southeast wind which blows away the city's dust and exhaust gases. Southeasterly winds are also responsible for the celebrated "tablecloth". The wind drives warm, moist air masses from False Bay against Table Mountain; the air then condenses, and a layer of cloud covers the plateau like a blanket of cotton wool.
The oldest traces of human settlement on the Cape were left by the Hottentots (Khoikhoi) and Bushmen (San), living as herdsmen and as hunters, gatherers and fishermen. The first European to round the Cape, in 1488, was the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Diaz. In 1503 his countryman Antonio Saldanha became the first European to climb Table Mountain. The colonization of South Africa, however, began only on April 6th 1652, when a Dutch merchant, Jan van Riebeeck, landed in Table Bay. He and his companions established on behalf of the Dutch East India Company a supply base for the company's ships sailing to India. The site was well chosen: springs under Table Mountain supplied fresh water, the soil was fertile, and increasing areas of land were developed by settlers from Holland, Germany and France. Cape Town became known as the "tavern of the seas". For many years to come the history of Cape Town, the "mother city", as it is still known today, was identical with the history of South Africa.
The little "vleck van den Kaap", the little village on the Cape, developed in the course of time into a town of traders, officials and craftsmen which from 1806 to 1910 was capital of the British Cape Colony. More recently, as the seat of Parliament, it has been one of South Africa's capitals.
Its situation makes Cape Town one of the world's most fascinating cities, but the city itself is less impressive than its situation. The regularly laid out central area extends between Table Bay, with the harbor, to the north and Table Mountain (1000m/3280ft) to the south. Within this area many historic old buildings have been preserved. The appearance of the city has been much enhanced by the completion, in recent years, of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The formerly unattractive harbor area is now a lively entertainment quarter.
The "better" suburbs, almost exclusively occupied by whites - among them Goodwood, Parow and Bellville - extend northeastward from the city center along N 1, the road to Paarl. To the south, along the coast between Sea Point and Hout Bay, are a series of attractive bathing resorts. In contrast to these are the ugly 19th century industrial and housing areas (Saltriver, Woodstock, etc.) in the harbor area. Along the northwestern edge of the central area is the Malay quarter with its mosques, renovated 18th and 19th C houses and 1950s apartment blocks.
The black population live in the area known as Cape Flats, extending southeast from the city center to False Bay. Between N 2 and False Bay are townships such as Athlone, squatter camps like Crossroads and the satellite towns of Mitchell's Plain and Khayelitsha. There are also large townships on the north side of Table Bay and near the big industrial plants, such as Atlantis and Philadelphia.
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