East London (South Africa)

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East London
East London (South Africa)
East London (33 ° 0 ′ 52.44 ″ S, 27 ° 54 ′ 12.99 ″ E)
East London
Coordinates 33 ° 1 ′  S , 27 ° 54 ′  E Coordinates: 33 ° 1 ′  S , 27 ° 54 ′  E
Basic data
Country South Africa

province

Eastern Cape
District Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
ISO 3166-2 ZA-EC
height 135 m
Residents 267,007 (2011)
founding 1847
Town Hall in East London
Town Hall in East London

East London (English; Afrikaans : Oos-Londen , isiXhosa : Imonti ) is a city with 267,007 inhabitants (as of 2011) in the metropolitan municipality of Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa . It lies at the mouth of the Buffalo and Nahoon Rivers in the Indian Ocean .

history

East London was first established as a British military post ( Fort Glamorgan ) in 1836 and served as a base during the Border Wars . The place grew with the settlement of German settlers around the fort in 1857, who had previously served in the British-German Legion of the Crimean War . East London was later granted city rights. The city was given its current name in 1848 by the British High Commissioner Sir Harry Smith .

The population development shows the urban growth through traffic and industrialization:

  • 1891: 6924 inhabitants
  • 1921: 34,673 inhabitants, including 22,257 non-Europeans.

The port of East London played a central role for the British colonial economy in the eastern part of the Cape Colony for the import and export of goods in the traditionally agricultural and processing industries around the city and the settlements that stretched as far as King William's Town . Since the middle of the 19th century, sheep farming has been at the forefront of agricultural activities . The focus of exports via the port was therefore on sheep's wool, as well as angora wool and leather as well as related processing products. The intensive land use of the areas around Middledrift and Keiskammahoek , in the Glen Gray District and as far as the Transkei had increased the soil degradation (formation of dongas ) through overgrazing extremely in the 1920s and 1930s . From the 1930s to the 1940s, this produced a drastic decline in the number of sheep farming and wool prices, although a recovery did not materialize until after 1945.

In 2000, East London merged with King William's Town and Bisho to form the Local Municipality Buffalo City in the Amathole district, and later they became part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. In the 2011 census , 70.1% described themselves as black, 16.0% as white, 11.6% as colored , 1.8% as Indians / Asians and 0.5% as others.

Transport and economy

Quayside in East London on the Indian Ocean
East London Airport
East London around 1900

East London Airport can only be reached by plane from other South African air hubs, as the city's own airport is not designed for international flights.

Several main roads connect East London with the neighboring regions. These are the coastal connection to Port Elizabeth and Durban as well as north-west and north-leading routes. To Bloemfontein you drive via Aliwal North on the national road N6 . The stretch of the national road N2 can be used as a motorway to King William's Town . An expansion of the R 63 from here to Alice and further is in planning.

A railway line runs inland and branches off at Bhisho in the direction of Aliwal North and Port Elizabeth.

The port of East London today is mainly a medium-sized cargo port. The port and the downstream operations offer numerous jobs.

For the region, the city is an important service center with structures for trade and small businesses. The most important employer is Daimler AG , which builds motor vehicles (cars and trucks) in East London for the South African market and other countries. Accordingly, numerous automotive suppliers have established themselves there. With the construction of the East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ), approved in 2002, on the former Leeches Bay commercial zone , a modern industrial area was created. The acquisition of interested parties began in 2005. In the following year, the Mercedes-Benz Automotive Supplier Park (ASP) was established here . Since 2009, companies that are active in the fields of renewable energies , aquaculture and the processing of agricultural products have settled here.

education

In East London there is a campus of the Walter Sisulu University . The Buffalo City Public FET College , a professional training facility, is located in the Selborne district .

climate

In East London, the mean daily highs rise to over 27 ° C in the summer months, the daily low values ​​are around 18–20 ° C. In winter, mean highs of around 22 ° C and mean lows of around 13 ° C are reached. In the winter months of June and July, comparatively little rain falls with around 30 mm, in the summer months the amount of precipitation increases to just under 100 mm.

Sports

East London has an international cricket stadium with Buffalo Park . At the 2003 Cricket World Cup , three games took place here.

Another well-known stadium is Buffalo City Stadium , which hosted three games at the 1995 Rugby Union World Cup .

Tourist Attractions

  • East London Museum
  • City Hall (built in 1897 on the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's throne )
  • Ann Bryant Art Gallery (built in 1905)
  • Monument to the German settlers
  • Gately House (First Mayor's Residence)
  • East London Aquarium
  • Botanical Garden and Zoo ( Queen's Park Botanical Garden & Zoo )
  • Kwelera National Botanical Garden
  • East London Coast State Forest
  • Beach facilities

Personalities

The following people were born in East London:

Web links

Commons : East London (South Africa)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b 2011 census , accessed on November 22, 2013
  2. ↑ Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, Vol. 5 (5th edition) Leipzig, Vienna 1895, p. 339
  3. ↑ Karl Bott (Ed.): Short dictionary des Kaufmanns: Lexikon für Handel und Industrie, Vol. 2. Hamburg, Berlin 1925, p. 1
  4. ^ South African History Online: East London, Eastern Cape . at www.sahistory.org.za (English).
  5. ^ Edward Roux: Land and Agriculture in the Native Reserves . In: Ellen Hellmann , Leah Abrahams: Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa . Oxford University Press , Cape Town, London New York, 1949, pp. 179-180.
  6. ^ John Noble: Descriptive Handbook of the Cape Colony: Its Condition and Resources . Cape Town, London 1875, pp. 207, 228-229.
  7. ^ D. Hobart Houghton: The South African Economy . Oxford University Press , Cape Town 1964, pp. 49, 53-54
  8. ^ East London IDZ SOC Ltd .: Our Milesones . on www.elidz.co.za (English)
  9. ^ Buffalo City Public FET College. About BCC. on www.bccollege.co.za
  10. ^ Buffalo City Public FET College. at ugrad.education, accessed December 9, 2018