Main Place

Cape Town

Quick Fact ......
  • 433,688

  • 138,280

  • 37%

  • 96,9%

  • 99,3%

  • 97,1%

Cape Town is known as the Mother City of South Africa. It developed from a settlement established by Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 and was originally referred to as Cabo de Goede Hoop. Eventually, the shortened form Cabo or De Caab came to be used. In the 18th century it was known as Het Vlek van de Caab. The names Cape Town and Kaapstad were only applied around the middle of the 18th century and the Khoekhoen name, Huigais, meaning 'stone place', was first applied to the Castle but was subsequently extended to include Cape Town. (GPS coordinates: 34.0842 S, 18.4304 E).

Character(s) left.
  • Raper PE. 2004. New dictionary of South African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers.

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Key Statistics 2011

Characteristics
Total population433,688
Young (0-14)18,4%
Working Age (15-64)71,5%
Elderly (65+)10,1%
Dependency ratio39,8
Sex ratio93,1
Population density1083 persons/km2
No schooling aged 20+0,8%
Higher education aged 20+37%
Matric aged 20+30,8%
Number of households138,280
Average household size2,8
Female headed households39,8%
Formal dwellings96,6%
Housing owned/paying off55,9%
Flush toilet connected to sewerage97,1%
Weekly refuse removal98,7%
Piped water inside dwelling96,9%
Electricity for lighting99,3%

Place names

City of Cape Town Municipality