10 Interesting Facts about the Eastern Cape

1) Established:
The Eastern Cape was established on the 27th April 1994, before this it was part of the Cape Province. The areas that were taken from the Cape Province to create the Eastern Cape are Transkei, Ciskei and the Eastern portion of the Cape Province.

2) Consists of:
The Eastern Cape is 170 000 Square kilometres of mountain ranges, sandy beaches and even lush forests, stretching from the Southern Drakensburg to Tsitsikamma. It boasts a coastline of 800km from Cape Francis all the way to the Wild Coast.

3) Climate:
The climate in the Eastern Cape is subtropical and is mild towards the North. With hot summers the winters are cold with snowfall towards the northern mountains. The annual precipitation increases by 550MM between Graaff-Reinet in the West and East London in the East.

4) Harbours:
The Eastern Cape is the only province that has 3 harbours, namely Port Elizabeth, East London and Ngqura. The trio of ports connects South Africa to the global economy.

5) Wild Life:
Big 5, no!  The Eastern Cape is home to the big 7, namely the Great White Shark, Southern Right Whale, Buffalo, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and majestic Lion.

6) Adventure:
If adventure and pure adrenalin are what you are after the Bloukrans River Bridge is the place to be for the very popular bungee jumping. The bridge spans 451 meters in length and hangs 216 meters above the Bloukrans River, it is situated near Nature’s Valley and was built between 1980 and 1983 by Concor.  

7) Sport:
The Eastern Province boasts a premier rugby team namely the Isuzu Southern Kings whose home ground is the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth that is appropriately named after a local hero, icon and former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela. The Isuzu Southern Kings are one of only two teams that represent South Africa in the Guinness Pro14 tournament overseas.

8) Automotive:
The Eastern Cape is home of Volkswagen South Africa, Mercedes-Benz, Isuzu and Ford Motors. The Province manufactures 50% of the Country’s passenger vehicles and also exports 51% of the vehicles that are manufactured here.

9) Agriculture:
The Eastern Cape has fertile soil and due to this is able to produce many different products that include Fruit, Chicory, Olives, Tea, coffee and maize.

10) Icons:
Former president Nelson Mandela, Former president Thabo Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo are some of the icons that were born and bred in the Eastern Cape.

Sources:
Global Africa Network
Wikipedia
South African Hotels
Wikipedia EC
IOL
Wikipedia Bloukrans
Visit Eastern Cape
Britannica
Wiki

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