10 Interesting facts about the Eastern Cape, South Africa

1. The capital of the Eastern Cape is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Port Elizabeth.

2. At just under 170 000 Km² it's the largest province in South Africa after the Northern Cape.

3. The central and eastern parts of the province are the traditional home of the Xhosa people.

4. Most towns in the Eastern Cape were established by English settlers and were either named after places in England or after the original founders of the town.

5. The province gets progressively wetter as you move from west to east, the western parts bring part of the arid Karoo.

6. Ben Macdhui (or Ben Macdui) is a 3,001-metre (9,846 ft) peak named after Ben Macdie in Scotland.

7. It has 3 major harbours located at East London, Ngqura and Port Elizabeth.

8. World icon, Nelson Mandela, was born in the village of Mvezo in the district of Qunu near Umtata in the Eastern Cape in 1918 and was buried there after his death in 2013.

9. The province has an 800km coastline, from Cape St Francis to Port Edward.

10. The Coelacanth was rediscovered near East London by fishermen in 1938, after it was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years.

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