Vredenburg

Vredenburg
A landscape in Vredenburg
Vredenburg  Vredenburg shown within Western Cape Show map of Western Cape Vredenburg Vredenburg (South Africa) Show map of South Africa Vredenburg Vredenburg (Africa) Show map of Africa
Coordinates: 32°54′23″S 17°59′45″E / 32.90639°S 17.99583°E / -32.90639; 17.99583Coordinates: 32°54′23″S 17°59′45″E / 32.90639°S 17.99583°E / -32.90639; 17.99583
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	West Coast
Municipality	Saldanha Bay
Area[1]
• Total	13.75 km2 (5.31 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	38,382
• Density	2,800/km2 (7,200/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
• Black African	28.7%
• Coloured	55.7%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	13.8%
• Other	1.1%
First languages (2011)[1]
• Afrikaans	68.7%
• Xhosa	19.3%
• English	5.0%
• Sotho	2.3%
• Other	4.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	7380
PO box	7380
Area code	022

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 138km 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 "troubled 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]

References