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Bitterwater
Leeu-Gamka is a small town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located north-east of Cape Town in the Karoo. History The town of Leeu-Gamka owes its existence to the route chosen by Prime Minister John Molteno for the Cape Government Railways's western main line, from Cape Town towards the diamond fields at Kimberley. The railway line reached the meeting-point of the Leeu and Gamka rivers in 1879, and on 11 August of that year a station was opened on that location. It was initially named "Fraserburg Road", because it was the closest station to the town of Fraserburg, to the north-west over the Nuweveld Mountains. A small town grew around this station, with a church and school opening in 1896, and a hotel in 1898. In 1950 the station and town were renamed to "Leeu-Gamka". Geography Leeu-Gamka is located where the Leeu River enters the Gamka River; both rivers are intermittent in this region. "Leeu" and "Gamka" both mean "Lion", in Afrikaans and ǀXam respectively. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Albert Local Municipality
Prince Albert Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. History At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Prince Albert Local Municipality formed part of the Central Karoo Regional Services Council (RSC). The town of Prince Albert was governed by a municipal council elected by the white residents, while the coloured residents were governed by a management committee subordinate to the white council. Bitterwater (Leeu-Gamka) was also governed by a management committee subordinate to the RSC. After the national elections of 1994 a process of local government transformation began, in which negotiations were held between the existing local authorities, political parties, and local community organisations. As a result of these negotiations, in January 1995 the municipality and management committee of Prince Albert were both dissolved and the Prince Albert Transitional Local Council (TLC) was created to replace them. In the sam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest (after Johannesburg). Colloquially named the ''Mother City'', it is the largest city of the Western Cape province, and is managed by the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The other two capitals are Pretoria, the executive capital, located in Gauteng, where the Presidency is based, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital in the Free State, where the Supreme Court of Appeal is located. Cape Town is ranked as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The city is known for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is home to 66% of the Western Cape's population. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaufort West
Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beaufort West Local Municipality, with 34,085 inhabitants in 2011. It is the centre of an agricultural district based mainly on sheep farming, and is a significant town and logistical support hub on the N1 national road. Next door to Beaufort West is the Karoo National Park. Important Permian era fossils have been found in the area to the west of the town. Initially found by David Baird, son of the local magistrate in 1827. The old Town Hall and the Dutch Reformed Church have been declared national monuments. History Beaufort West was the first town to be established in the central Karoo. The town was founded in 1818 and initially named ''Beaufort'' after Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, who was the father of Lord Charles Henry Somerset ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laingsburg, Western Cape
Laingsburg is a town located in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is a relatively large agricultural town in the semi-arid Great Karoo. It was partially destroyed in a flash flood in 1981. History Following the arrival of the early Dutch, German and Huguenot pioneer settlers in 1727–1728, the area was settled by 18 Trekboer farmer families who trekked up from Still bay and Swellendam, led by the Meiring, Bezuidenhout, Botha, van Rooyen, van Heerden, Holtzhausen, Eksteen, Du Plouuy, Roussouw, Joubert and Viljoen families, who established sheep and orange farms in the area. In 1738 the settlement raised a Commando militia platoon of 20 Riflemen, 5 Mounted Riflemen, 2 field guns and 8 gunners. It was led by Commandant Cornelius Steyn and Field Cornet Petrus Holtzhausen till the 1760s. In the 1760s the Commando organised long range punitive and reconnaissance raids deep into Beaufort West and Nelspoort to recover cattle and sheep. In 1774 the settlement sent an advan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
N1 Road (South Africa)
The N1 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Polokwane to Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe. It forms the first section of the famed Cape to Cairo Road. Prior to 1970, the N1 designation was applied to the route from Beit Bridge to Colesberg and then along the current N9 to George. The section from Cape Town to Colesberg was designated the N9.http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/sites/default/files/styles/adaptive/public/Department%20of%20Transport%20Map%20South%20Africa%201959.jpg?itok=TncXhikX Route Western Cape The N1 begins in central Cape Town at the northern end of Buitengracht Street (M62), outside the entrance to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. The first section of the N1 is shared with the beginning of the N2; it is a four-lane elevated freeway that runs along a strip of land between the city centre and the Port of Cape Town. On the eastern edge of the city centre the two roads sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swartberg
The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo. To the north of the range lies the other large semi-arid area in South Africa, the Great Karoo. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2000 m high, making them the tallest mountains in the Western Cape. It is also one of the longest, spanning some 230 km from south of Laingsburg in the west to between Willowmore and Uniondale in the east. Geologically, these mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt. Much of the Swartberg is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The two ranges The Swartberg consists of two officially named ranges, the Smaller and the Greater Swartberg Mountains. ''Klein Swartberge'' The Smaller Swartberg are the westernmost of the two. Ironically, this range is the higher one, including the province's high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ǀXam Language
ǀXam pronounced , in English ) is considered an extinct language of South Africa formerly spoken by the ǀXam-ka ǃʼē of South Africa. It is part of the ǃUi branch of the Tuu languages and closely related to the moribund Nǁng language. Much of the scholarly work on ǀXam was performed by Wilhelm Bleek, a German linguist of the 19th century, who studied a variety of ǀXam spoken at Achterveld, and (with Lucy Lloyd) another spoken at Strandberg and Katkop while working with ǁKábbo, Diaǃkwāin, ǀAǃkúṅta, ǃKwéite̥n ta ǁKēn, ǀHaṅǂkassʼō and other speakers. The surviving corpus of ǀXam comes from the stories told by and vocabulary recorded from these individuals in the Bleek and Lloyd Collection. Name The pipe at the beginning of the name "ǀXam" represents a dental click, like the English interjection ''tsk, tsk!'' used to express pity or shame. The denotes a voiceless velar fricative click accompaniment. Compared to other Khoisan languages, there is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrikaans Language
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch dialects, Dutch vernacular of Holland, Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and Slavery in South Africa, their enslaved people. Afrikaans gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics during the course of the 18th century. Now spoken in South Africa, Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, estimates circa 2010 of the total number of Afrikaans speakers range between 15 and 23 million. Most linguists consider Afrikaans to be a partly creole language. An estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary is of Dutch origin with adopted words from other languages including German language, German and the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa. Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch, Differences with Dutch include a more analytic language, analytic-type Morphology (linguistics), morphology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamka River
Gamka River ( af, Gamkarivier) is a river located in the Western Cape, South Africa. The name '' means 'Lion' and was probably named so by the San people (Bushmen). The river originates north of Beaufort West, generally flowing southwest towards the Gamkapoort Dam. The main tributaries of the Gamka River, are the Dwyka River, Koekemoers River and Leeuw River which rise in the Great Karoo, converge and flow southwards through the Swartberg Mountains. The Olifants River joins the Gamka River south of Calitzdorp. Together these become the Gourits River. The Gamka River flows from the North East of the Gamka Dam and the Dwyka River from the North West. Both rivers flow into the Gamka Dam from there the Gamka river flows south and becomes the Gourits River at Calitzdorp, where it flows past the similarly named mountains Gamkaberg. Dams in the Gamka River * Doornfontein Dam (capacity ), * Gamka Dam (capacity ), * Springfontein Dam, * Leeu-Gamka Dam (capacity ), * Gamkapoort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fraserburg
Fraserburg is a town in the Karoo region of South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is located in the Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality. The town has some of the coldest winters in South Africa. The nearest towns are Williston, Sutherland, Loxton and Leeu-Gamka, all of which are more than 100 km distant. A particularly good example of a corbelled house can be found in the town, there are others in the district. The town is also well known for the large number of unique and well-preserved fossil finds that litter the surrounding area. History The earliest known inhabitants of the area were the San people and their artefacts and rock paintings can still be found in the area. The first Europeans to arrive in the region were Trekboers who arrived in 1759. The first settler to be recorded in these parts was Willem Steenkamp, after whom the Steenkampsberg is named. In 1851 Fraserburg was established on the farm Rietfontein and named after the Scottish immigrant Reverend Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
