Alexander Bay
| Alexander Bay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 28 ° 35 '43 " S , 16 ° 29' 8" O | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| North Cape | |||
| District | Namakwa | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA-NC | ||
| local community | Richtersveld | ||
| surface | 9.3 km² | ||
| Residents | 1736 | ||
| density | 187.7 Ew. / km² | ||
| founding | 1836 | ||
Alexander Bay ( Afrikaans Alexanderbaai ) is a town in the municipality of Richtersveld , Namakwa District , Northern Cape Province in South Africa . In 2011 1736 people lived here in 511 households.
Location and traffic
The northernmost city on the west coast of South Africa is located south of the mouth of the Oranje in the Atlantic , on the border with Namibia . The place Oranjemund in the diamond restricted area of Namibia can be reached via the Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge , which was completed in 1951 . There is a border crossing here that is open between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The distance to Springbok is 250 kilometers.
The road (R 382) to Alexander Bay is a dead end into the diamond restricted area. At the same time, it leads to the nearby Richtersveld National Park .
There is a regional airport in Alexander Bay, which is located northeast of the city at the Ernest-Oppenheimer Bridge.
history
The village is named after Sir James Alexander , who founded it in 1836. This needed a seaport on the South African Atlantic coast in order to be able to transport away the copper mined near Kodas inland, in the Richtersveld . He spent it all the way to Alexander Bay on the Orange by means of small ships.
In 1925, on the Namqualand coast north of Port Nolloth, the diamond deposits on South African territory were discovered in the rubble occurring there. A year later, in December 1926 and at the beginning of 1927, Hans Merensky , Izak Celliers and Ernst Reuning discovered the very rich diamond deposits south of the mouth of the Orange. After compensation of visitors, the then South African government took höffiges ground and raised it in 1928 to the status of State Alluvial Diggings (German as: "State Alluviallagerstätte"). As a result, new settlements emerged on both sides of the Orange River and along the coast. During this time Alexander Bay grew and on the other side of the river in Namibia the municipality of Oranjemund was established (1936). The region was then declared a restricted area.
With the Alexkor Limited Act ( Act No. 116 of 1992 ), the South African state created a mining company that deals with the production of diamonds in this region, is subordinate to the Department of Public Enterprises and is based in Johannesburg . Alexkor operates opencast mining on land and seabed mining in the coastal zone off the mouth of the Orange River .
Attractions
The marshland and wetland at the mouth of the Orange River is an important stopover for a large number of migratory birds and has therefore been declared a Ramsar protected area. With its establishment in 1995 it was the first cross-border area of this classification in southern Africa . The rare Barlow Lark ( Calendulauda barlowi ) finds its habitat here.
To the east of the city is the world's largest lichen habitat to date in a desert landscape. There are 26 species known. The green and orange lichens are striking. These lichen fields are to be declared a national monument and would then be specially protected.
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census: Alexander Bay . accessed on June 7, 2020.
- ↑ Tracks4africa: Oranjemund Border Post (NAM / RSA-Alexander Bay) . on www.tracks4africa.co.za (English).
- ↑ World Airport Codes: Alexander Bay Airport (ALJ) . at www.world-airport-codes.com (English).
- ^ Peter Edmund Raper : Dictionary of Southern African Place Names . Lowry Publishers, Johannesburg 1987 (2nd ed.), P. 33.
- ↑ a b Namakwa District Municipality: Alexander Bay ( Memento from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) ( English ).
- ^ RA Pelletier: Mineral Resources of South-Central Africa . Oxford University Press, Cape Town / London / New York / Toronto 1964, pp. 41, 48.
- ↑ C. Plug: Reuning, Dr Ernst . at www.s2a3.org.za (English).
- ^ Konny von Schmettau: Oranjemund. A journey through history & modern times . Hippos Verlag, Swakopmund 2016, ISBN 978-99916-886-8-8 online at www.books.google.de (English).
- ↑ Alexkor: Our History . at www.alexkor.co.za (English).
- ↑ Water Institute of Southern Africa: Wetland Orange River Mouth ( Memento from July 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
- ↑ BirdLife International: ZA023 Orange River Mouth Wetlands . at www.birdlife.org (English).
- ↑ Northern Cape Tourism Board: Alexander Bay ( Memento from October 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (English).