Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape ( Afrikaans Oos- Kaap, English, Eastern Cape IsiXhosa IPhondo yaMpuma - colonial ) is a South African province in the southeast of the Republic. It comprises 169,580 km ² and has around 6.6 million inhabitants, of which 85 per cent of the population belong to the group of Xhosa. The Eastern Cape province was created in 1994 by the Association of the Southeast of the Cape Province with the former Ciskei and Transkei homelands. Its capital is Bhisho.

Geography

The largest city in the Eastern Cape and adjacent to East London 's most important industrial location in Port Elizabeth. Because in the Eastern Cape are no significant mineral resources, the province is a region of the country with little industrialization and low-income, rural settlements.

The landscape is over long distances still untouched and offers a rich variety of morphological phenomena and ecosystems, from the wasteland of the Great Karoo on the Knysna forest, mountain areas up to 2000 meters above sea level and up to the fertile farmland between the planes Little Karoo and the Long Kloof enough. The vegetation is very diverse: there are both remnants of evergreen extratropical forests and fynbos, grasslands and thornbush savannah. In Hogsback and the Tsitsikamma National Park are evergreen forests with native tree species.

The altitude of the province are highly differentiated and diversified geological and natural area wide. Among the most important mountain ranges include sections of the Great Escarpment, as Sneeuberg, Bamboesberg, Storm Mountain and the western foothills of the Drakensberg, the geographical area bank, Winterberg Mountains and Amathole Mountains, and the surveys within the fold zone of the Cape Supergroup the Grootwinterhoekberge, Baavianskloofberge and the Tsitsikamma. Particularly rugged mountain scenery of the Wild Coast, including its inland.

Traffic

Traffic

In East London, Port Elizabeth and Mthatha airports there are domestic. They are primarily served by airports in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Shipping

The major port cities on the coast have a freight -capable port. The focus is in Port Elizabeth, the Port of Ngqura and East London. An inland waterway with freight there is not. The low water levels, the sediment load and some water management structures do not allow this.

Road network

In the Eastern Cape province now forms the road system, the main route between the villages. The resulting early railway network has relatively declined in importance. The National Road N2 crosses the province from southwest to northeast. It combines, coming from Cape Town, the cities of Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, King William 's Town, Mdantsane, East London, on to Mthata where she travels around the rough area of the Wild Coast. From there, it passes on to Kokstad in the neighboring province of KwaZulu -Natal, but then touched an exclave of the Eastern Cape and continues towards Durban. Between King William 's Town and East London and west of Port Elizabeth to the village of Thornhill is developed as a four-lane highway.

The national road N6 begins in East London and provides a connection with the north-west of the city lying inland. She touched the cities Macleantown and Stutterheim, then overcomes the eastern foothills of the Amathole Mountains, also Cathcart, Queenstown and the transport hub Aliwal North. In the latter city it crosses the Orange River, so that the provincial border and continues to Bloemfontein in the Free State Province.

From the west, from the region around Oudtshoorn, the National Road N9 extends over the western part of the province. You reached at Ghwarriepoort ( mountain pass ) the area performs relatively small inhabited landscapes to Graaff -Reinet. Then she clips the eastern foothills of the Massif Sneeuberg with the village Bethesdaweg and thereafter reaches Middelburg. There short it follows the course of the N10, south of the town of Carlton leaves the province area north to Colesberg, where it ends in the N1.

From the Northern Cape on Brittown the N10 national road leading to the western part of the Eastern Cape Province and reaches north of Middelburg their territory. She joins briefly with the N9, which she leaves after this city again and runs through Cradock up in the coastal area. In the village of Ncanaha just before Port Elizabeth is received from the N2.

The road network between the national roads form regional roads through partially rough, dry and mountainous areas. There are in the remote regions of numerous unpaved roads.

Since 2003, regulated by a law of the province ( Eastern Cape Roads Act, no. 3/2003 ) The functions of provincial administration for lying in their jurisdiction road network. In order for the provisions of the Roads Ordinance, 1976 have been lifted. The province receives financial grants from the National PRMG - Fund ( Provincial Road Maintenance Grant) for road maintenance.

Districts

The province is divided into the following districts and a metropolitan community (as before 2011 ):

Cities ( selection)

Higher education institutions

In the area of the province, there are three higher education institutions. Two of them have strong international relations and have contributed significantly to the scientific development of the country of South Africa over a period of more than one hundred years. These are the:

  • Rhodes University
  • University of Fort Hare and
  • Walter Sisulu University.

Of historical importance for the argrarwirtschaftliche education throughout the country, the Fort Cox College of Agriculture and Forestry is in Keiskammahoek.

National Parks and Nature Reserves

  • Addo Elephant Park
  • Tsitsikamma National Park
  • Alexandria Conservation Area
  • Baviaanskloof Mega - Reserve
  • Black Eagle Nature Reserve
  • Buffelspruit Nature Reserve
  • Bushman's River Conservancy
  • Cape Recife Nature Reserve
  • Commando Drift Nature Reserve
  • Cwebe Nature Reserve
  • Double Drift Game Reserve
  • Dwesa - Cwebe Marine Reserve
  • Formosa Nature Reserve
  • Fonteinbos Nature Reserve
  • Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve
  • Fort Pato Nature Reserve
  • Gariep Dam Nature Reserve
  • Great Fish River Reserve
  • Groendal Wilderness Area
  • Huisklip Nature Reserve
  • Huleka Nature Reserve
  • Karoo Nature Reserve
  • Kragga Kamma Game Park
  • Kwelera Nature Reserve
  • Maitland Nature Reserve
  • Mkambati Nature Reserve
  • Mpofu Game Reserve
  • Oviston Nature Reserve
  • Round Hill Nature Reserve
  • Saldinia Bay Nature Reserve
  • Sam Knott Nature Reserve
  • Sea View Lion and Game Park
  • Silaka Nature Reserve
  • Stinkhoutberg Nature Reserve
  • Thomas Baines Nature Reserve
  • Timbila Game Reserve
  • Tsolwana Game Reserve
  • Van Staden's Wild Flower Reserve
  • Andries Vosloo Kudu Reserve
  • Woody Cape Nature Reserve

Personalities

The old university town of Grahamstown with a bishopric, the former British administrative center of King William's Town and the port cities of East London and Port Elizabeth as well as other places were and are the haunts of many historically significant figures for South Africa. Among them are the German -born naturalist Selmar Schönland, his son Basil Even country, the Prussian officer Richard von Stutterheim, the discoverer of Marjorie Courtenay - Latimer, the missionaries James Stewart and Jane Elizabeth Waterston and the artists Churchill Madikida and musician Alex van Heerden.

Many well-known personalities of the anti-apartheid movement, such as Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki and Thabo Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, also Chris Hani, Steve Biko and Albertina Sisulu come from this province, as the former homelands of Ciskei and Transkei were in their field, traditional settlement areas of Xhosa. Other civil rights, such as Allan Hendrickse, were born in the Eastern Cape.

Gallery

Valley of Tyhume River at the foot of the Amathole Mountains

Aloe ferox

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