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 Show map of Eastern Cape Adelaide Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 32°42′S 26°18′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Amathole
Municipality	Raymond Mhlaba
Area [1]
• Total	40.0 km^2 (15.4 sq mi)
Elevation	600 m (2,000 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	12,191
• Density	300/km^2 (790/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	76.5%
• Coloured	18.8%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	3.5%
• Other	0.8%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Xhosa	72.3%
• Afrikaans	22.6%
• English	3.0%
• Other	2.1%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	5760
PO box	5760
Area code	046

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.