The Cape of Good Hope (Afrikaans: Kaap die Goeie Hoop, Dutch: Kaap de Goede Hoop, Portuguese: Cabo da Boa Esperança) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of South Africa. Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa There is a very common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, but in fact the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 150 kilometres (90 mi) to the southeast. Cape Agulhas ( Portuguese: Cabo das Agulhas, "Cape of Needles" is the geographic southern tip of the African Continent The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States However, when following the coastline from the equator, the Cape of Good Hope marks the psychologically important point where one begins to travel more eastward than southward. Thus the rounding of the cape in 1488 was a major milestone in the attempts by the Portuguese to establish direct trade relations with the Far East. The Far East is a term often used by people in the Western world to refer to the countries of East Asia.
As one of the great capes of the South Atlantic Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope has been of special significance to sailors for many years and is widely referred to by them simply as The Cape. In Sailing, the great capes are the three major capes of the Southern Ocean — the Cape of Good Hope (although sometimes Cape Agulhas [1] It is a major milestone on the clipper route followed by clipper ships to the Far East and Australia, and still followed by several offshore yacht races. In Sailing, the clipper route was the traditional route sailed by clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and A clipper was a very fast Sailing ship of the 19th century that had multiple masts and a Square rig. The Far East is a term often used by people in the Western world to refer to the countries of East Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Yacht racing is the sport of competitive Sailing. There is a broad variety of kinds of races and sailboats used for racing
The term "Cape of Good Hope" was also used to indicate the early Cape Colony established in 1652, in the vicinity of the Cape Peninsula. The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652 with the founding of Cape Town. The Cape Peninsula is a generally rocky Peninsula that juts out for 75 km (47 mi into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the Just prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa, the term referred to the entire region that was to become the Cape Province in 1910. } The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day state of the Republic of South Africa. The Cape of Good Hope Province (commonly referred to simply as the Cape Province) was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of
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Geography
The Cape of Good Hope is located at . [2] It is at the south-west corner of the Cape Peninsula, about 2. The Cape Peninsula is a generally rocky Peninsula that juts out for 75 km (47 mi into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the 3 kilometres (1. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand 4 mi) west and a little south of Cape Point on the south-east corner. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Cape Point is a Promontory at the south-east corner of the Cape Peninsula, which is a mountainous and very scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres The peninsula forms the western boundary of False Bay. False Bay ( Afrikaans Valsbaai) is a body of water defined by Cape Hangklip ( Dutch / Afrikaans for "Hang-stone" and Geologically, the rocks found at the two capes- and indeed over much of the peninsula- are part of the Table Mountain Group, and are formed of the same type of sandstones as those exposed in the faces of Table Mountain itself. Table Mountain is a flat-topped Mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa, and is featured in the Table Mountain is a flat-topped Mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa, and is featured in the
The Cape of Good Hope is often thought of as being the southernmost point in Africa, and the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; however, this is actually Cape Agulhas, which lies about 150 kilometres (90 mi) east-south-east. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface Cape Agulhas ( Portuguese: Cabo das Agulhas, "Cape of Needles" is the geographic southern tip of the African Continent Cape Town is about 50 kilometres to the north of the Cape, in Table Bay at the north end of the peninsula. Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the Table Bay ( Afrikaans Tafelbaai) is a natural inlet overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula which stretches
Both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point offer spectacular scenery. Cape Point is a Promontory at the south-east corner of the Cape Peninsula, which is a mountainous and very scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres Indeed, the whole of the southernmost portion of the Cape Peninsula is a wild, rugged, scenic and generally unspoiled national park.
The term Cape of Good Hope has also been used in a wider sense, to indicate the area of the early European colony in the vicinity of the cape. [3]
History
Some speculate that before European explorers reached the Cape of Good Hope, Chinese, Arabian, or Indian explorers/merchants may already have visited it, and kept records of these visits. The Old World maps like Kangnido and Fra Mauro map made before 1488 may be evidence of this. The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans Asians and Africans in the 15th century The Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Jido ("Map of Integrated Lands and Regions of Historical Countries and Capitals" short name Gangnido (Kangnido) is a map of the world The Fra Mauro map, "considered the greatest memorial of medieval cartography" according to Roberto Almagià is a map made around 1450 by the Venetian monk
The first European to reach the cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, who named it the "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas). Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Bartolomeu Dias (baɾtuluˈmeu ˈdiɐʃ Anglicized Bartholomew Diaz) (c It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as "Cape of Good Hope" (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. João II ( Portuguese, ʒuˈɐ̃ũ English: John II) ( March 3 1455 &ndash October 25 1495) the Perfect
The land around the cape was home to the Khoikhoi (Hottentot) people when the Dutch first settled there in 1652. The Khoikhoi had arrived in these parts about fifteen hundred years before.
Dutch colonial administrator Jan van Riebeeck established a resupply camp for the Dutch East India Company some 50 km north of the cape in Table Bay on April 6, 1652 and this eventually developed into Cape Town. The Dutch people ( Dutch:) are the dominant Ethnic group of the Netherlands. Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck ( 21 April, 1619 &ndash 18 January, 1677) was a Dutch colonial administrator The Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian Table Bay ( Afrikaans Tafelbaai) is a natural inlet overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula which stretches Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the Supplies of fresh food were vital on the long journey around Africa and Cape Town became known as "The Tavern of the Seas".
On December 31, 1687 a community of Huguenots arrived at the Cape from the Netherlands. Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands They had escaped to the Netherlands from France in order to flee religious persecution there, examples of these are Pierre Joubert who came from La Motte-d'Aigues for religious reasons. Pierre Joubert ( June 27, 1910 - January 13, 2002) was a French Illustrator. La Motte-d'Aigues is a village and commune in the Vaucluse département in southern France. The Dutch East India Company needed skilled farmers at the Cape of Good Hope and the Dutch Government saw opportunities for the Huguenots at the Cape and sent them over. The colony gradually grew over the next 150 years or so until it stretched for hundreds of kilometres to the north and north-east.
The United Kingdom invaded and occupied the Cape Colony in 1795 ("The First Occupation") but relinquished control of the territory in 1803. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located However, British forces returned on January 19, 1806 and occupied the Cape once again ("The Second Occupation"). Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. Year 1806 ( MDCCCVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The territory was ceded to the UK in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 and was henceforth administered as the Cape Colony. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 (also known as the Convention of London) was a Treaty signed between Great Britain and the United Provinces in The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652 with the founding of Cape Town. It remained a British colony until incorporated into the independent Union of South Africa in 1910 (now known as the Republic of South Africa).
The Portuguese government erected two navigational beacons, Dias Cross and Da Gama Cross, to commemorate Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias as explorers. Dom Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira ('vaʃku dɐ 'gɐmɐ ( Sines or Vidigueira, Alentejo, Portugal, ca Bartolomeu Dias (baɾtuluˈmeu ˈdiɐʃ Anglicized Bartholomew Diaz) (c When lined up, the crosses point to Whittle Rock (), a large, permanently submerged shipping hazard in False Bay. Two other beacons in Simonstown provide the intersection. Simon's Town (also widely but incorrectly referred to as Simonstown) and in Afrikaans Simonstad) is a village and a naval base in South Africa,
Legends
The Cape of Good Hope is the legendary home of The Flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman, according to Folklore, is a Ghost ship that can never go home and is doomed to sail the oceans forever Crewed by tormented and damned ghostly sailors, it is doomed forever to beat its way through the adjacent waters without ever succeeding in rounding the headland.
Adamastor is a Greek-type mythological character invented by the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in his epic poem Os Lusíadas (first printed in 1572), as a symbol of the forces of nature Portuguese navigators had to overcome during their discoveries, and more specifically of the dangers Portuguese sailors faced when trying to round the Cape of Storms. Adamastor is a Greek-type mythological character invented by the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in his Epic poem Os Lusíadas (first Luís Vaz de Camões (luˈiʃ vaʃ dɨ kaˈmõĩʃ sometimes rendered in English from old Portuguese as Camoens) (c Os Lusíadas, pron. uʃ lu'ziɐdɐʃ (usually known by the title The Lusiads in English is a Portuguese epic poem
Local fauna
With its diverse habitat, ranging from rocky mountain tops to beaches and open sea, the Cape of Good Hope is home to at least 250 species of birds.
"Bush birds" tend to be rather scarce because of the coarse, scrubby nature of fynbos vegetation. Fynbos (ˈfəinbɒs or anglicised as /ˈfeɪnbɒs/ meaning "fine bush" in Afrikaans) is the natural Shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring When flowering, however, proteas and ericas attract sunbirds, sugarbirds, and other species in search of nectar. "Sugarbush" redirects here For the ski resort see Sugarbush Resort Protea is both the Botanical name Erica is a Genus of over 700 species of Flowering plants in the family Ericaceae; two English common names both shared with some other closely The sunbirds and '''spiderhunters''' are very small Passerine Birds which feed largely on Nectar, although they will also take insects especially The sugarbirds are a small family of Passerine Birds which are restricted to Africa. For most of the year, there are more small birds in coastal thicket than in fynbos.
Large animals are a rare sight in the Cape of Good Hope, but there are a wealth of small animals such as lizards, snakes, tortoises and insects. Lizards are a large and widespread group of Reptiles of the order Squamata, with nearly 5000 species and ranging across all continents except A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. Tortoises or land Turtles are land-dwelling Reptiles of the family of Testudinidae', order Testudines. Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described There are some herds of zebra, eland and a variety of other antelope. Zebras are African Equids best known for their distinctive white and black stripes Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. Small mammals include rock hyrax (dassie), striped mouse, water mongoose, Cape clawless otter and white deer. The Cape Hyrax, or Rock Hyrax, ( Procavia capensis) is a species in the order Hyracoidea. The Cape Hyrax, or Rock Hyrax, ( Procavia capensis) is a species in the order Hyracoidea. The African Clawless Otter, Aonyx capensis, also known as the Cape Clawless Otter or Groot otter, is the second largest freshwater species of The White-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized Deer found throughout
The area offers excellent vantage points for whale watching. The Southern right whale is the species most likely to be seen in False Bay between June and November. The Southern Right Whale ( Eubalaena australis) is a Baleen whale, one of three species classified as Right whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena False Bay ( Afrikaans Valsbaai) is a body of water defined by Cape Hangklip ( Dutch / Afrikaans for "Hang-stone" and Other species are the humpback whale and Bryde's whale. The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae) is a Baleen Whale. Bryde’s Whales are the least-known and in many ways the most unusual of the Rorquals They are small by rorqual standards&mdashno more than about 25 tonnes&mdashprefer tropical Seals and dolphins may also be seen. Pinnipeds ("fin-feet" lit "winged feet" or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine Mammals comprising Dolphins are Marine mammals that are closely related to Whales and Porpoises There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera.
The strategic position of the Cape of Good Hope between two major ocean currents, ensures a rich diversity of marine life. There is a difference between the sea life West of Cape Point and that to the East due to the markedly differing sea temperatures.
The South African Marine Living Resources Act is strictly enforced throughout the Table Mountain National Park, and especially in marine protected areas. For information about the 2006 fire that occurred here please see 2006 Table Mountain fire Table Mountain National Park, previously known Disturbance or removal of any marine organisms is strictly prohibited between Schusters Bay and Hoek van Bobbejaan, but is allowed in other areas during season and with relevant permits.
Local flora
The Cape of Good Hope is an integral part of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, the smallest but richest of the world's six floral kingdoms. The Cape floristic region is a Floristic region located in South Africa.
This comprises a treasure trove of 1100 species of indigenous plants, of which a number are endemic (occur naturally nowhere else on earth). Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere Two types of fynbos ("fine bush"), coastal fynbos on alkaline sands and inland fynbos on acid soils, are found. Fynbos (ˈfəinbɒs or anglicised as /ˈfeɪnbɒs/ meaning "fine bush" in Afrikaans) is the natural Shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring
Characteristic fynbos plants include proteas, ericas (heath), and restios (reeds). "Sugarbush" redirects here For the ski resort see Sugarbush Resort Protea is both the Botanical name Erica is a Genus of over 700 species of Flowering plants in the family Ericaceae; two English common names both shared with some other closely Restio is a Genus of Grass -like plants in family Restionaceae. Some of the most striking and well-known members belong to the Proteacae family, of which up to 24 species occur. Proteaceae is a family of Flowering plants. Mainly restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, it is a fairly large family with around 80 genera These include King Protea, Sugarbush, Tree Pincushion and Golden Cone Bush. The King Protea ( Protea cynaroides) is a Flowering plant. It is a distinctive Protea, having the largest flower head Sugarbush Resort is a Ski resort located in the Mad River Valley in Warren, Vermont.
Many popular horticultural plants like pelargoniums, freesias, daisies, lilies and irises also have their origins in fynbos. Pelargonium is a Genus of Flowering plants which includes about 200 Species of perennial, succulent, and Shrub Freesia (Ecklon ex Klatt is a Genus of 14-16 species of Flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa.
See also
- Cape Horn, its South American counterpart
- Western Cape
- History of Cape Colony
References
- ^ Along the Clipper Way, Francis Chichester; page 78. Cabo de Hornos redirects here for the Chilean commune see Cabo de Hornos Chile. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The written history of Cape Colony South Africa (later known as Cape Province) began when Bartolomeu Dias, a Portuguese navigator discovered Hodder & Stoughton, 1966. ISBN 0-340-00191-7
- ^ Topo map of the Cape of Good Hope, from the South African Geographical Names System
- ^ Historic Cape of Good Hope Land Grants and related histories
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