Western Cape Province Geography

The Western Cape is the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, only 3800km from the Antarctic coastline. The Western Cape Province is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape, on the east by the Eastern Cape, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The total land area of the Western Cape province is 129,370 km², about 10.6% of South Africa's total. It is roughly the size of England or the US state of Louisiana.

The Western Cape Climate

Most of the province is considered to have a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The interior Karoo has a semi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occasional thunderstorms. The Garden Route and the Overberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers. Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii.

Western Cape Tourism

The province has grown a massive tourism industry with the majority of international tourists visiting the Western Cape. Cape Town, Garden Route and the Winelands being most popular. Cape Town, second most populous city of South Africa (3.5 mill) and provincial capital of the Western Cape, is also the legislative capital of South Africa, famous for it's harbour, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Wine-lands, the Cape floral kingdom, Table Mountain and Cape Point.

Western Cape Political History

In 1994, after the inauguration of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, the Cape Province was broken up into three provinces: Western Cape, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape (which encompasses the former Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei). However, the Western Cape set itself apart early in post-apartheid South African history by being one of the two provinces to have rejected an ANC mandate (the other being KwaZulu-Natal) by electing former South African Law and Order minister Hernus Kriel (NP) as the first premier of the Western Cape. It would be dominated by the National Party, and its successor, until the party's announced a merger with the ANC in 2004, which brought ex-premier Ebrahim Rasool to power.

Western Cape Infrastructure

The Western Cape has an excellent network of highways comparable with any first-world country. All major roads are tarred with major rural gravel roads well maintained. Motorways are limited to the Cape Metropolitan Area, Winelands and Garden Route. However due to the low population density of these areas and the remainder of the province, the highways remain efficient and high-speed, except during peak holiday travel seasons, when travel can be slow-going in places due to heavy traffic.