Cape Town History, South Africa

Cape Town city is considered to be second in rank as it has a large population in South Africa. Cape Town is Western Cape’s provincial capital as well as South Africa’s legislative capital. Offices of the government and the National Parliament are found here.

The 2007 Community Survey revealed that the city has 3.5 million inhabitants. Cape Town is larger than other South African cities because it has a land area of 2,455 square kilometers (948 sq mi), resulting in a relatively lesser population of 1,425 citizens per square kilometers (3,689/sq mi). As time passes by, the population of Cape Town increases.

Cape Town is known for its harbor which is naturally located in the Cape floral kingdom, together with the famous Table Moutain and Cape Point landmarks. This city has one of the most famous touristic places in South Africa like the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront with Table Mountain, The Clock Tower at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Malay Bo-Kaap and Table Mountain National Park. Cape Town is known also for its famous beautiful beaches like False Bay beaches and Boulders Beach. In this city, you can also enjoy the Two Oceans Aquarium and Cape Fur Seal. The rest of the beautiful spot in Cape Town will be seen when you visit this place.

Cape Town was built as a means for shipping and transporting Dutch ships going to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East for more than 200 years before the building of the famous Suez Canal in 1869. By that time, Suez Canal was very useful to the people of Cape Town as it was the main route for their means of transport. Suez Canal serves also as a way of exporting their products to other places. The Canal made it easier to transport goods, thus earning money was much easier, too.

The first stable European settlement in South Africa started on April 6, 1652 by Jan van Riebeeck, a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town. Cape Town city rapidly outgrew its real intention as the first European station located at the Castle of God Hope. It was the biggest city known in South Africa until Johannesburg was developed. In South Africa, Johannesburg was known to be the biggest and wealthiest province.

Cape Town city is linked with Nice in France and Haifa in Israel. It is also known as the most populous city.

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