The Groenland (Dutch for "Greenland") is a small mountain range in 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 2020 ...

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 countri ...

, and forms part of the

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 Moun ...

Location and geography

The Groenland mountains run from east to west. They lie between the

Hottentots Holland The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. The range is primarily composed of Ta ...

mountains to the west, and the Houwhoek mountains to the south-east. They thus form the northern boundary of the

Elgin valley Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontari ...

. They are located between the towns of

Grabouw Grabouw is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 highway.The town is the commercial centre for the vast Elg ...

in the south-west, and

Villiersdorp Villiersdorp is a town of approximately 10,000 people located in the Western Cape province of South Africa in the Overberg region. Unlike most of the geographical region which specialises in wheat and canola farming, the Villiersdorp Valley is no ...

in the north-east. These towns are linked by the Viljoen's Pass (named after local farmer

Antonie Viljoen Sir Antonie Gysbert Viljoen (21 August 1858 – 26 October 1918) was an influential liberal Afrikaner politician and progressive farmer of the Cape Colony, South Africa. Early life and career Born on August 21, 1858, Viljoen was raised at Mid ...

), part of the R321 road which cuts through the Groenland mountains at the point where the

Palmiet River Palmiet River ( af, Palmietrivier) is a river located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The Palmiet River is a typical Western Cape river, experiencing winter rainfall and it is important for the Western Cape Water Supply System. It h ...

flows. The range is primarily composed of

Table Mountain Sandstone The Table Mountain Sandstone (TMS) is a group of rock formations within the Cape Supergroup sequence of rocks. Although the term "Table Mountain Sandstone" is still widely used in common parlance, the term TMS is no longer formally recogni ...

History

Pre-colonial history

The mountain and its surrounding areas were originally the homeland of the indigenous Chainouqua Khoi people (also spelled as Chainoqua), who inhabited a large area on either side of the

mountains. Under the leadership of their Chiefs - such as Soeswa, and later "Klaas" Dorha - the Chainoqua attempted to resist the expansion of European colonists into Chainoqua territory. However the region ultimately fell under European control, and the Chainoqua were displaced from their land, which was divided into farms for European colonists.

Colonial era

The name "Groenland" was given by early European colonists to both the mountains, and to the surrounding area. Meaning "Greenland" in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, it refers to the lush green vegetation of the mountain and its surrounds (Although the name is also the Dutch language term for the island of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

in the north Atlantic, the two toponyms were coined independently of each other). The original indigenous Chainoqua names for the area's landforms are unfortunately not well recorded. The low-lying region to the south, acquired the name ''" Elgin"'', after its historic railway station. The station name in turn originally came from the name of a young locally-born girl, ''Elgine Herold'', who was tragically killed by snake-bite in the 1800s near the spot where the current station stands. The grieving father and community named the whole area in her memory, and through a series of events, her name came to be memorialised in the name of both the station, and the whole valley. The Elgin area had formerly also held other names, such as ''"Koffiekraal"'' or sometimes as ''"Grietjiesgat"'', and was also known as ''"Groenland"'' during parts of the early Dutch and British colonial era. However these names fell out of usage.

Modern naming

By compromise, both names - Groenland and Elgin - came to be preserved. Avoiding further confusion, the term ''"Groenland"'' was kept for the high and mountainous area to the north, while the term ''"Elgin"'' remained for the low-lying valley region to the south. The mountains are located within the modern

Theewaterskloof Local Municipality Theewaterskloof Municipality is a local municipality (South Africa), local municipality located within the Overberg District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, the population was 108,790. Its municipality code i ...

, in the far west of the greater

Overberg District Municipality The Overberg District Municipality is a district municipality that governs the Overberg region in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is divided into four local municipalities and includes the major towns of Grabouw, Caledon, Hermanu ...

. The "Groenlandberg Conservancy" was established in 1994 in the Groenland mountains, and takes its name from the Afrikaans version of the mountain range's name. Other initiatives named after these mountains include the "Green Mountain Eco Route"."Green Mountain" Eco Route
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References

{{Reflist Mountain ranges of the Western Cape Elgin, Western Cape