Adelaide, Eastern Cape

Adelaide is a rural town and area in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Adelaide is situated near the Great Winterberg Mountain range.

Adelaide
Dutch Reformed Church in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide
Coordinates: 32°42′S 26°18′E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceEastern Cape
DistrictAmathole
MunicipalityRaymond Mhlaba
Area
 • Total40.0 km2 (15.4 sq mi)
Elevation
600 m (2,000 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total12,191
 • Density300/km2 (790/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African76.5%
 • Coloured18.8%
 • Indian/Asian0.5%
 • White3.5%
 • Other0.8%
First languages (2011)
 • Xhosa72.3%
 • Afrikaans22.6%
 • English3.0%
 • Other2.1%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
5760
PO box
5760
Area code046

History

Before European arrival

The modern day area of Adelaide was first inhabited by Bushmen (estimated around 1530 to 1760), but in the late 18th and 19th century the Xhosa and white settlers arrived. The Bushmen were displaced and are no longer found in the area.

Colonial Adelaide

Adelaide's origins date back to 1835 when a British officer named Captain Alexander Boswell Armstrong (1787–1862) established a military encampment which he named Fort Adelaide after Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, wife of King William IV. Despite the earlier English settlers, who were part of the 1820 Settlers, later on a large number of both Scottish and Afrikaans people soon immigrated here too. The Scottish were also the first to erect a church in the local area.

Modern day Adelaide

Adelaide is an important centre of wool and sheep farming. Beef, mutton, venison and citrus fruit are also important products. The specialised abattoir for venison (farm-hunted game meat) operating from central town provides much needed employment to the local residents.

About 2,300 of the San-Bushmen's far-away descendants, the Westernised Coloureds, reside in the Bezuidenhoutville township 3  km from central town, and represent 19% of Adelaide's inhabitants. Lingelethu is the largest Black African township in Adelaide, with a census exceeding 6,000[1] and a population share of 77% of the municipal area.

References
  1. Sum of the Main Places Adelaide and Lingelethu from Census 2011.
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