Calvinia
| Calvinia | |||
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| Coordinates | 31 ° 28 ′ S , 19 ° 46 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| North Cape | |||
| District | Namakwa | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA-NC | ||
| local community | Hantam | ||
| Residents | 9680 (2011) | ||
| founding | 1847 | ||
 Street in Calvinia
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Calvinia is a place in the municipality of Hantam in the Namakwa District , Northern Cape Province in South Africa . In 2011 it had 9,680 inhabitants. The place is located 470 kilometers north of Cape Town . Neighboring cities are Williston (129 km away), Brandvlei (173 km away), Middelpos (131 km away) and Vanrhynsdorp, 120 km away . Calvinia is located at the foot of the Hantam mountain range at an altitude of 970 meters.
The main branch of the economy is the surrounding merino and Dorper sheep breeding.
The asteroid (1245) Calvinia , which was discovered in Johannesburg on May 26, 1932 by the South African astronomer Cyril V. Jackson , is named after the city.
history
The city was founded in 1847 under the name Hantam, a Khoi-Khoi word that means "mountain where the red edible flowers bloom". After a Dutch Reformed church had been built, however, the first pastor, NJ Hofmeyr, insisted in 1853 on naming the place Calvinia in honor of the French reformer John Calvin . The place then received city rights in 1904.
traffic
Calvinia is on the R27 trunk road , which connects Vanrhynsdorp and Nieuwoudtville in the west with Upington in the northeast. The R355 runs from Calvinia north-west to Loeriesfontein .
To the southwest of the city, Calvinia has an airfield with a 1,200-meter-long asphalt runway. His ICAO code is FACV.
Attractions
- The Calvinia Agricultural Museum in the former synagogue. The history of settlement in this region is documented here, along with sheep farming and other agricultural issues.
- The Akkerendam Nature Reserve is three kilometers north of Calvinia
- The spring bloom: After the winter rain , in spring (July / August) the landscape around the city - like everywhere in Namaqualand - is covered with a multitude of flowers.
- The Hantam Meat Festival , an agricultural show and large braai / grill festival, where everything revolves around the sheep, every year at the end of August.
climate
The average summer temperature is 22 ° C, with peaks above 40 ° C. The average winter temperature is 10 ° C, but it can also drop to −8 ° C. Snow falls regularly on the surrounding mountains.
The city is surrounded by five different vegetation zones:
- The Ceres-Karoo - semi-desert
- The Bokkeveld - with fynbos , Protea
- The Namaqualand - with midday flowers and succulents
- Bushmanland - with annual plants and shrubs
- The Roggeveld - with the coldest winter temperatures in South Africa
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Calvinia
Source: wetterkontor.de
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Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census , accessed November 18, 2013
- ^ Airfields Directory for Southern Africa. Aviation Direct, South Africa 2016, ISBN 978-0-620-48088-8
- ↑ Entry at airportsbase.org (English), accessed on March 22, 2018