Basic information
Motto – Spes Bona (Good Hope)
Capital – Cape Town
Total area – 129 462 km2
Percentage of country – 10.6%
(Approximately the size of the UK or Louisiana)
Population (2007)
Total – 5 300 000
Density – 40.8/km2
Populations groups
Coloured – 50.2%
Black African – 30.1%
White – 18.4%
Indian/Asian – 1.3%
Languages
Afrikaans – 55.3%
Xhosa – 23.7%
English – 19.3%
Time zone – UTC +2
4th Largest province in the country
Western Cape is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape, on the east by the Eastern Cape, on the south by the Indian Ocean and the west by the Atlantic Ocean.
The Breede, Berg and Olifants Rivers are the major rivers of the province
The Capital is Cape Town and the other major cities include Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl and George.
Vegetation is extremely diverse, with one of the world’s seven floral kingdoms almost exclusively endemic to the province – Cape Floral Kingdom. Most of which is covered by Fynbos (Fine Bush). There are more plant species occurring on Table Mountain than the entire United Kingdom. The vegetation is characterised by various types of shrubs, thousands of flowering plant species and some small trees.
The drought resistant shrubbery found is found in the arid interior, the West Coast and the Little Karoo are semi-arid with many species of succulents and acacia trees and drought resistant shrubbery. The Garden Route is extremely lush, with temperate of Afromontane forest areas covering many areas next to the coast and along the mountain ranges. The hardwoods found here are the Yellowwood, Stinkwood and Ironwood trees.
Most of the province has a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The Karoo has a semi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occasional thunderstorms. The Garden Route and the Overberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers.
Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii.
Thunderstorms are not that common in the province, except for the Karoo interior. Extremes of heat and cold are common inland, but rare near the coast. On the higher ground in the winter months, snow is a common occurrence but frost is quite rare.
Temperatures and rainfall:
Cape Town averages: January 16 – 26°C, July 7 – 18°C, annual rainfall 1400mm
George averages: January 15 – 25°C, July 7 – 19°C, annual rainfall 720mm