Cape Town

The earliest known remnants of human occupation in the region were found at Peers Cave in Fish Hoek in the late 1920s. Subject to much debate, earlier estimations as to an upper Pleistocene origin have since been revised. At their most generous and conservative estimates, D.D. Stynder et al. radiocarbon date SAM-AP 4692 to the mid-Holocene at 5448 and 5136 BCE (or 7457 and 7145 cal BP) respectively. Bartolomeu Dias, the first European to reach the area, arrived in 1488 and named it "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas). It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as "Cape of Good Hope" (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to the Indian subcontinent and East Indies. In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope. …

Cape Town is located at latitude 33.55° S (approximately the same as Sydney and Buenos Aires and equivalent to Casablanca and Los Angeles in the northern hemisphere) and longitude 18.25° E. Table Mountain, with its near vertical cliffs and flat-topped summit over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high, and with Devil's Peak and Lion's Head on either side, together form a dramatic mountainous backdrop, which creates the City Bowl. This area comprises the Cape Town CBD as well as numerous suburbs on the mountainside. A thin strip of cloud, known colloquially as the "tablecloth" ("Karos" in Afrikaans), sometimes forms on top of the mountain. To the immediate south of the city, the Cape Peninsula is a scenic mountainous spine jutting 40 km (25 mi) southward into the Atlantic Ocean and terminating at Cape Point. There are over 70 peaks above 300 m (980 ft) within Cape Town's official metropolitan limits. …

Cape Town is noted for its architectural heritage, with the highest density of Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style, which combines the architectural traditions of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Indonesia, is most visible in Constantia, the old government buildings in the Central Business District, and along Long Street. The only complete windmill in South Africa is Mostert's Mill, Mowbray. It was built in 1796 and restored in 1935 and again in 1995. Cape Town was named the World Design Capital for 2014 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. Cape Town is also recognized as a "Design City" by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. The Artscape Theatre Centre is the largest performing arts venue in Cape Town. In 2026, Cape Town was named the 5th-best city in the world for arts and culture, by UK's Time Out magazine. …

Cape Town is Africa's third-largest economic hub, and South Africa's second-largest by annual gross metropolitan output. It serves as the regional financial and manufacturing center in the Western Cape province. The city has a diverse economy that is not significantly reliant on any particular sector. While the financial sector accounts for 22% of the Western Cape's annual economic output, as of 2025, its tech sector is growing at an annual rate of 8%. The city also has a substantial Green Economy, with numerous renewable energy companies headquartered in the metro, and around R15 billion invested into the sector in 2024 alone. As of June 2025, Cape Town has South Africa's highest average household income, as well as the country's lowest rate of unemployment, and strongest-performing property market. The average annual household income in the Western Cape is the highest in South Africa. …

Cape Town International Airport serves both domestic and international flights. It is the second-largest airport in South Africa and serves as a major gateway for travellers to the Cape region. Cape Town has regularly scheduled services to other parts of Southern Africa, East Africa, Mauritius, Middle East, Far East, Europe, Brazil and the United States as well as eleven domestic destinations. As tourism numbers increased in the lead-up to the tournament of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Cape Town International Airport opened a brand new central terminal building that was developed to handle an expected increase in air traffic. Other renovations include several large new parking garages, a revamped domestic departure terminal, a new Bus Rapid Transit system station and a new double-decker road system. …

According to the South African National Census of 2011, the population of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality – an area that includes suburbs and exurbs – is 3,740,026 people. This represents an annual growth rate of 2.6% compared to the results of the previous census in 2001 which found a population of 2,892,243 people. Of those residents who were asked about their first language, 35.7% spoke Afrikaans, 29.8% spoke Xhosa and 28.4% spoke English. 24.8% of the population is under the age of 15, while 5.5% is 65 or older. The sex ratio is 0.96, meaning that there are slightly more women than men. Of those residents aged 20 or older, 1.8% have no schooling, 8.1% have some schooling but did not finish primary school, 4.6% finished primary school but have no secondary schooling, 38.9% have some secondary schooling but did not finish Grade 12, 29. …