Douglas is an agricultural and stock farming town situated near the confluence of the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...

s in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

province of South Africa. Notably the rural town has a diverse population, with mostly state institutions and the anchor private employer, GWK, an agricultural company.

History

The town was founded in

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

as a mission station on the farm Backhouse by the Reverend Isaac Hughes, who had been working along the

since 1845. In 1867, a group of Europeans from Griquatown signed an agreement giving them the right to establish a town. The town was named after General Sir Percy Douglas, Lieutenant Governor of the Cape Colony.

Geography

Douglas lies about 100 km southwest of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

the capital of the

. These two are connected by the R357 road.

Climate

Douglas has a record of its elevation above sea level of 1030.22 meters (3379.99 feet). Comparing Douglas district's yearly temperature to South Africa's averages, the records show that it is 4.01% higher with a temperature 25.23 °C (77.41 °F). Douglas is known for its Subtropical desert climate with 38.78 rainy days (10.62% of the time) and precipitation of about 19.31 millimeters (0.76 inches) annually.

Notable people from Douglas

Ingrid Jonker Ingrid Jonker (19 September 1933 – 19 July 1965) was a South African poet and one of the founders of modern Afrikaans literature. Her poems have been widely translated into other languages. Born into an Afrikaner family with four hundred y ...

, poet * Hannes Nienaber, journalist

References

Populated places in the Siyancuma Local Municipality Populated places established in 1848 {{NorthernCape-geo-stub