Vredenburg
A landscape in Vredenburg
A landscape in Vredenburg
Vredenburg is located in Western Cape
Vredenburg
Vredenburg
Vredenburg is located in South Africa
Vredenburg
Vredenburg
Coordinates: 32°54′23″S 17°59′45″E / 32.90639°S 17.99583°E / -32.90639; 17.99583
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
DistrictWest Coast
MunicipalitySaldanha Bay
Area
[1]
 • Total13.75 km2 (5.31 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total38,382
 • Density2,800/km2 (7,200/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[1]
 • Black African28.7%
 • Coloured55.7%
 • Indian/Asian0.6%
 • White13.8%
 • Other1.1%
First languages (2011)
[1]
 • Afrikaans68.7%
 • Xhosa19.3%
 • English5.0%
 • Sotho2.3%
 • Other4.8%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
7380
PO box
7380
Area code022

Vredenburg is a town of the Cape West Coast in the Western Cape province of South Africa. "Vrede" is Afrikaans for peace. It is the transportation and commercial hub of the West Coast area and administrative centre of the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality. It is located 12 kilometres inland from the coast at Saldanha Bay on the Cape Columbine Peninsula 138 km north of Cape Town.

History

The town was established in 1875 initially as a Dutch Reformed Church congregation to serve the surrounding communities, as the closest church was in Hopefield. The town's original name was "Twisfontein", which from Afrikaans can be translated as "dispute fountain". This name came about when two competing farmers fought over the only available freshwater spring in the area. The town's name was later changed to "Prosesfontein". The town was renamed as they were discussing the matter of the freshwater spring and were trying to come to an agreement. When this agreement was settled and they have achieved a sense of peace among one another, the name "Vredenburg" was chosen. The town's population in 2011 was 38,382.[1] The city should not be confused with the ancient Vredenburg in the Limpopo Province. It can however be easily distinguished from one another, as the one in Limpopo Province is falling apart, for all practical purposes.

Famous people

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Main Place Vredenburg". Census 2011.
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