The Boland (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

for "top country" or "land above") is a region of the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 202 ...

province of South Africa, situated to the northeast of

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 ...

in the middle and upper courses of the Berg and Breede Rivers, around the Boland Mountains of the central

Cape Fold Belt The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, which affected the sequence of sedimentary rock layers of the Cape Supergroup in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It was originally continuous with the Ventana Mount ...

. It is sometimes also referred to as the Cape Winelands because it is the primary region for the making of

Western Cape wine Western Cape is a Geographical Unit within the Wine of Origin classification system of South African wine. Corresponding to the province of Western Cape it includes most of the vineyards in South Africa. Style The wines of the Western Cape ran ...

Geography

Although the Boland does not have defined boundaries, its core lies around the Boland Mountains and the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. It may be understood to extend as far as Malmesbury, Tulbagh, Swellendam and Somerset West. This is approximately the area included in the

Cape Winelands District Municipality The Cape Winelands District Municipality, formerly the Boland District Municipality, is a district municipality located in the Boland region of the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011, it had a population of 787,490. The largest tow ...

, which was formerly called the Boland District Municipality. To the southwest lies the Cape Town metropolitan area, to the northwest the Swartland and West Coast, to the northeast the Great Karoo, to the east the

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

, and to the south the

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the ...

. The

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of the Boland Mountains feeds the Berg, Breede and Riviersonderend rivers, and provides almost the entire water source for

Popular culture

The "Boland" name is given to a number of sports teams from the region, including the

Boland cricket team The Boland is a first-class cricket team that nominally represents the Boland region, in the South African province of Western Cape, in the CSA Provincial Competitions. The team is selected and supported by the Boland Cricket Board (BCB) and play ...

and the Boland Cavaliers

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Geography of the Western Cape