Main Place

Barkly West

Quick Fact ......
  • 8,258

  • 1,802

  • 4,8%

  • 60,4%

  • 82,9%

  • 80,9%

Barkly West is situated on the Vaal River. Formerly known as Klipdrift (Dutch: 'stony ford'), the town began as a camp for diamond diggers in 1869. It was named Barkly West in 1870, after Governor Sir Henry Barkly. During the Second Anglo-Boer War it was occupied for four months by Boer forces and during this time was temporarily renamed Nieu-Boshof. (GPS coordinates: 28.5072 S, 24.5014 E).

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

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) monitors the quality of the information available on this website and updates the information regularly. However, neither Stats SA nor the Stats SA Website Department (StatsOnline) guarantees, or accepts legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this website or on any linked site.

Key Statistics 2011

Characteristics
Total population8,258
Young (0-14)31%
Working Age (15-64)63,3%
Elderly (65+)5,6%
Dependency ratio57,9
Sex ratio97,7
Population density117 persons/km2
No schooling aged 20+17,1%
Higher education aged 20+4,8%
Matric aged 20+28,4%
Number of households1,802
Average household size4,1
Female headed households39%
Formal dwellings87,1%
Housing owned/paying off50,2%
Flush toilet connected to sewerage80,9%
Weekly refuse removal65,7%
Piped water inside dwelling60,4%
Electricity for lighting82,9%

Place names

Dikgatlong Municipality