View source for Place:Cape Town

{{Short description|Legislative capital of South Africa}}
{{Use South African English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Cape Town
| native_name        = {{Plainlist|
*{{native name|af|Kaapstad}}
*{{native name|xh|iKapa}}
*''ǁHui ǃGaeb'' (Khoekhoe)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://humanities.uct.ac.za/apc/place-names-pre-colonial-origin-and-their-use-today |author=Bradley van Sitters |title=Place Names of Pre-colonial Origin and their Use Today |date=2 August 2012 |website=humanities.uct.ac.za |publisher=University of Cape Town |access-date=21 November 2023}}</ref>
}}
| official_name      = 
| settlement_type    = Capital city ([[Social:Legislature|legislative branch]])
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
  | total_width            = 280
  | border                 = infobox
  | perrow                 = 1/2/2/2/1
  | caption_align          = center
  | image1                 = Cape_Town_Mountain.jpg
  | alt1                   = Table Mountain from Signal Hill
  | caption1               = Devil's Peak and Table Mountain from [[Earth:Signal Hill (Cape Town)|Signal Hill]]
  | image2                 = Bo-Kaap Neighborhood (16547982259).jpg
  | alt2                   = Bo-Kaap
  | caption2               = Bo-Kaap
  | image3                 = Cape Town, Waterfront - panoramio.jpg
  | alt3                   = Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
  | caption3               = V&A Waterfront
  | image4                 = Castle_of_Good_Hope,_Cape_Town_01.jpg
  | alt4                   = Castle of Good Hope
  | caption4               = Castle of Good Hope 
  | image5                 = Parliament_in_company_gardens_(cropped).jpg
  | alt5                   = Houses of Parliament
  | caption5               = Houses of Parliament
  | image6                 = Cape Town City DSC 3621 (cropped).jpg
  | alt6                   = City Bowl
  | caption6               = Central Business District
  }}
| image_flag         = <!--Flag of Cape Town, South Africa.svg-->
| image_shield       = Coat of arms of Cape Town, South Africa.png
| blank_emblem_type  = Logo
| blank_emblem_size  = 100px
| blank_emblem_alt   = 
| image_blank_emblem = Logo of Cape Town, South Africa.svg
| blank_emblem_link  = 
| nicknames          = Mother City, Tavern of the Seas (archaic)
| motto              = {{lang|la|Spes Bona}} ([[Social:Latin|Latin]] for "Good Hope")
| pushpin_map        = South Africa Western Cape#South Africa#Africa
| coordinates        = {{coord|33|55|31|S|18|25|26|E|region:ZA-WC_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|South Africa}}
| subdivision_type1  = Province
| subdivision_name1  = {{flag|Western Cape}}
| subdivision_type2  = District
| subdivision_type3  = Municipality
| subdivision_name3  = City of Cape Town
| subdivision_type4  = Main Place
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 1652; 371 years ago
| established_title1 = Municipal government
| established_date1  = 1839; 184 years ago
| government_footnotes = <ref name="news24.com">{{cite news |date=26 April 2018 |title=City of Cape Town announces new city manager |url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/city-of-cape-town-announces-new-city-manager-20180426 |publisher=News24 |access-date=5 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815085442/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/city-of-cape-town-announces-new-city-manager-20180426 |archive-date=15 August 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| government_type    = Metropolitan municipality
| leader_title1      = Mayor
| leader_name1       = Geordin Hill-Lewis (DA)
| leader_title2      = Deputy Mayor
| leader_name2       = Eddie Andrews (DA)
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="census-muni">{{cite web |url=https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Maps%20and%20statistics/2016%20Community%20Survey%20Cape%20Town%20Trends.pdf |title=Community survey 2016 – City of Cape Town |work=Survey 2016 |publisher=Statistics South Africa |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425123037/http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/WesternCape.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 2461<!-- urban: 400.28-->
| elevation_max_m    = 1590.4
| elevation_min_m    = 0
| pop_est_as_of      = 2022
| population_est     = 4 770 313 (metro)<ref>{{cite report |title=Community Survey 2016: Provincial profile: Western Cape |publisher=Statistics South Africa |date=2018 |page=7 |url=http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/WesternCape.pdf#page17}}</ref>
| population_demonym = Capetonian
| demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2022)<ref>{{cite report |title=Census 2022: Provincial profile: Western Cape |publisher=Statistics South Africa |date=2018 |page=7 |url=https://census.statssa.gov.za/#/province/1/2}}</ref>
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census-muni" />
| demographics1_title1 = Black
| demographics1_info1 = 45.7%
| demographics1_title2 = Coloured
| demographics1_info2 = 35.1%
| demographics1_title3 = White
| demographics1_info3 = 16.2%
| demographics1_title4 = Indian/Asian
| demographics1_info4 = 1.6%
| demographics_type2 = [[Social:First language|First language]]s (2011)
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |title=StatsSA |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=993&id=city-of-cape-town-municipality |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812030117/http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=993&id=city-of-cape-town-municipality |archive-date=12 August 2016}}</ref>
| demographics2_title1 = [[Social:Afrikaans|Afrikaans]]
| demographics2_info1 = 34.9%
| demographics2_title2 = [[Social:Xhosa language|Xhosa]]
| demographics2_info2 = 29.2%
| demographics2_title3 = English
| demographics2_info3 = 27.8%
| demographics2_title4 = 
| demographics2_info4 = 
| demographics2_title5 = 
| demographics2_info5 = 
| blank_name_sec2    = [[Finance:Gross metropolitan product|GMP]] (2020)
| blank_info_sec2    = US$121&nbsp;billion<ref name="The 150 Richest cities in the world">{{cite web |url=http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/richest-cities-2020.html |title=Richest cities in the world in 2020 by GDP |publisher=City Mayors |access-date=19 February 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604174033/http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/richest-cities-2020.html |archive-date=4 June 2020}}</ref>
| blank1_name_sec2   = GMP per capita (2011)
| blank1_info_sec2   = US$19,656<ref name="brookingsgdp">{{cite web |url=http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/global-metro-monitor-3 |title=Global city GDP 2011 |publisher=Brookings Institution |access-date=18 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605135349/http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/global-metro-monitor-3 |archive-date=5 June 2013}}</ref>
| timezone1          = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]]
| utc_offset1        = +2
| postal_code_type   = Postal codes (street)
| postal_code        = 7400–8099
| postal2_code_type  = [[Engineering:Post-office box|PO box]]
| postal2_code       = 7000
| area_code_type     = Area code
| website            = {{URL|www.capetown.gov.za|capetown.gov.za}}
}}
'''Cape Town'''{{Efn|{{Bulleted list|{{lang-af|Kaapstad}} {{IPA|af|ˈkɑːpstat|}}|{{lang-xh|iKapa}}, {{IPA|xh|íkáːpa|}}}}
Also known as the ''Mother City''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=withbeyond.com |title=The Mother City Cape Town |url=https://www.skylife.com/en/2011-12/the-mother-city-cape-town |access-date=12 October 2020 |website=Skylife |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126004333/https://www.skylife.com/en/2011-12/the-mother-city-cape-town |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=10 SA city nicknames, and why they're called that |url=https://www.news24.com/News24/10-SA-city-nicknames-and-why-theyre-called-that-20150622 |access-date=24 July 2022 |website=News24 |date=4 June 2015 |language=en-US |archive-date=24 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220724201722/https://www.news24.com/News24/10-SA-city-nicknames-and-why-theyre-called-that-20150622 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} is the [[Social:Legislature|legislative]] capital of {{wipe|South Africa}}. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Western-Cape |title=Western Cape {{!}} province, South Africa |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=22 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508023252/https://www.britannica.com/place/Western-Cape |archive-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is the country's second-largest city, after [[Place:Johannesburg|Johannesburg]], and the largest in the Western Cape.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.south-africa-tours-and-travel.com/provinces-of-south-africa.html#The%20Western%20Cape%20province |title=Discover the 9 Provinces of South Africa and their Capital Cities |access-date=22 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614023702/http://www.south-africa-tours-and-travel.com/provinces-of-south-africa.html#The%20Western%20Cape%20province |archive-date=14 June 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.

The city is known for its harbour, its natural setting in the [[Biology:Cape Floristic Region|Cape Floristic Region]], and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by ''{{wipe|The New York Times}}''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capetownmagazine.com/cape-confidential/14-fun-facts-you-didnt-know-about-cape-town/123_22_19306 |title=14 Fun Facts You Didn't Know About Cape Town – Interesting & Amusing Things about the Mother City |work=Cape Town Magazine |access-date=17 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626140114/http://www.capetownmagazine.com/cape-confidential/14-fun-facts-you-didnt-know-about-cape-town/123_22_19306 |archive-date=26 June 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> and similarly by ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/citybreaks/11271025/The-worlds-best-cities.html |title=The world's best cities |work=Telegraph.co.uk |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105144658/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/citybreaks/11271025/The-worlds-best-cities.html |archive-date=5 January 2016 |url-status=live |date=5 February 2016 |last1=Bruyn |first1=Pippa de}}</ref>

Located on the shore of Table Bay, the City Bowl area of Cape Town is the oldest urban area in the Western Cape, with a significant cultural heritage. It was founded by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a supply station for Dutch ships sailing to [[Place:East Africa|East Africa]], {{wipe|India}}, and the [[Place:Far East|Far East]]. [[Biography:Jan van Riebeeck|Jan van Riebeeck]]'s arrival on 6 April 1652 established the VOC Cape Colony, the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in southern Africa.

The metropolitan area has a long coastline on the [[Earth:Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic Ocean]], which includes False Bay, and extends to the Hottentots Holland mountains to the east. The Table Mountain National Park is within the city boundaries and there are several other nature reserves and marine-protected areas within, and adjacent to, the city, protecting the diverse terrestrial and marine natural environment.

==History==

===Early period===
[[File:F. Benda-The planting of cross by Bartholomew Dias in 1488-0681 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias planting the cross at Cape Point, 1488.]]
The earliest known remnants of human occupation in the region were found at Peers Cave in Fish Hoek and have been dated to between 15,000 and 12,000 years old.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.antiquityofman.com/Peers_Cave.html |title=The Antiquity of man |publisher=SouthAfrica.info |access-date=15 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301174424/http://www.antiquityofman.com/Peers_Cave.html |archive-date=1 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Little is known of the history of the region's first residents, since there is no written history from the area before it was first mentioned by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias. Dias, the first European to reach the area, arrived in 1488 and named it "Cape of Storms" ({{Lang|pt|Cabo das Tormentas}}). It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as "Cape of Good Hope" ({{Lang|pt|Cabo da Boa Esperança}}) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to the [[Earth:Indian subcontinent|Indian subcontinent]] and [[Place:East Indies|East Indies]].

In 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1510, at the Battle of Salt River, the Portuguese admiral Francisco de Almeida and sixty-four of his men were killed and his party was defeated<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge history of South Africa: 1885–1994 |editor1=Hamilton, Carolyn |editor2=Mbenga, Bernard |editor3=Ross, Robert |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521517942 |volume=1 |pages=168–173 |chapter=Khoesan and Immigrants |oclc=778617810}}</ref> by the !Uriǁ’aekua ("Goringhaiqua" in Dutch approximate spelling) using specially trained cattle{{Citation needed|reason=I desparately want a reliable source on Khoekhoe attack cows.|date=September 2023}}. The !Uriǁ’aekua were one of the so-called Khoekhoe clans who inhabited the area.

In the late 16th century French, Danish, Dutch and English, but mainly Portuguese, ships regularly continued to stop over in Table Bay en route to the Indies. They traded tobacco, copper, and iron with the Khoekhoe clans of the region in exchange for fresh meat and other essential travelling provisions.

===Dutch period===
{{multiple image
| header            = Dutch period
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 220
| image1            = Charles Bell - Jan van Riebeeck se aankoms aan die Kaap.jpg
| caption1          = [[Biography:Jan van Riebeeck|Jan van Riebeeck]] and Dutch colonists arriving in Table Bay in 1652.
| image2            = Cape Town in 1800.jpg
| caption2          = A diorama of Cape Town as it would have appeared in 1800 at the end of Dutch rule by the VOC.
}}

In 1652, [[Biography:Jan van Riebeeck|Jan van Riebeeck]] and other employees of the United East India Company ({{lang-nl|Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie}}, VOC) were sent to the Cape Colony to establish a way-station for ships travelling to the Dutch East Indies, and the Fort de Goede Hoop (later replaced by the Castle of Good Hope). The settlement grew slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate labour. This labour shortage prompted the local authorities to import enslaved people from Indonesia and {{wipe|Madagascar}}. Many of these people are ancestors of modern-day Cape Coloured communities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cape-slavery-heritage.iblog.co.za/2009/05/01/coloured-people-of-the-western-cape-have-the-most-diverse-ancestry-in-the-world/ |title=Cape-Slavery-Heritage " Coloured People of the Western Cape have the most Diverse Ancestry in the World :: iBlog |publisher=Cape-slavery-heritage.iblog.co.za |date=1 May 2009 |access-date=17 March 2011}} {{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/slavery/slavery.htm |title=Slavery and early colonisation, South African History Online |publisher=Sahistory.org.za |date=22 September 1927 |access-date=17 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109130722/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/slavery/slavery.htm |archive-date=9 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Under Van Riebeeck and his successors, as VOC commanders and later governors at the Cape, a wide range of agricultural plants were introduced to the Cape. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had a large and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region.<ref>Pooley, S. 'Jan van Riebeeck as Pioneering Explorer and Conservator of Natural Resources at the Cape of Good Hope (1652–62),' Environment and History 15 (2009): 3–33. {{doi|10.3197/096734009X404644}}</ref>

===British period===
[[File:Adderley Street, Cape Town, looking NE - ca. 1897.jpg|thumb|Adderley Street in 1897 was an important commercial hub in Cape Town at a time when the city was the most important centre of economic activity in the Southern Africa region.]]

With the [[Place:Dutch Republic|Dutch Republic]] being transformed into Revolutionary France's vassal [[Place:Batavian Republic|Batavian Republic]], Great Britain moved to take control of Dutch colonies, including the colonial possessions of the VOC.

Britain captured Cape Town in 1795, but it was returned to the Dutch by treaty in 1803. British forces occupied the Cape again in 1806 following the Battle of Blaauwberg when the successor state to the Batavian Republic, the [[History:Kingdom of Holland|Kingdom of Holland]], allied with France during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Cape Town was permanently ceded to the United Kingdom. It became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony, whose territory expanded very substantially through the 1800s. With expansion came calls for greater independence from the UK, with the Cape attaining its own parliament (1854) and a locally accountable Prime Minister (1872). Suffrage was established according to the non-racial Cape Qualified Franchise.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bell |first=Charles |title=A painting of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in Table Bay |url=http://www.rosebuds.co.za/Toere/Cape%20Town.htm |access-date=11 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230184319/http://www.rosebuds.co.za/Toere/Cape%20Town.htm |archive-date=30 December 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McCracken |first=J.L. |title=The Cape Parliament, 1854–1910 |year=1967 |publisher=Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1967 |url=https://archive.org/details/capeparliament180000mccr |url-access=registration}}
</ref>

During the 1850s and 1860s, additional plant species were introduced from Australia by the British authorities. Notably [[Biology:Acacia cyclops|rooikrans]] was introduced to stabilise the sand of the Cape Flats to allow for a road connecting the peninsula with the rest of the African continent<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carruthers |first1=Jane |last2=Robin |first2=Libby |date=23 March 2010 |title=Taxonomic imperialism in the battles for Acacia:Identity and science in South Africa and Australia |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=60 |doi=10.1080/00359191003652066 |bibcode=2010TRSSA..65...48C |s2cid=83630585 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[Biology:Eucalyptus|eucalyptus]] was used to drain marshes.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ssrc.org/pages/A-Contested-Past-and-Present-Australian-Trees-in-South-Africa/ |title=A Contested Past and Present: Australian Trees in South Africa |website=Social Science Research Council |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727072156/https://www.ssrc.org/pages/A-Contested-Past-and-Present-Australian-Trees-in-South-Africa/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1859 the first railway line was built by the Cape Government Railways and a system of railways rapidly expanded in the 1870s. The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West in 1867, and the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886, prompted a flood of immigration into South Africa.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mbenga |first=Bernard |title=New History of South Africa |publisher=Tafelberg, South Africa, 2007 |url=http://www.tafelberg.com/Books/2652 |access-date=18 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422132145/http://www.tafelberg.com/Books/2652 |archive-date=22 April 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1895 the city's first public power station, the Graaff Electric Lighting Works, was opened.

Conflicts between the Boer republics in the interior and the British colonial government resulted in the [[History:Second Boer War|Second Boer War]] of 1899–1902. Britain's victory in this war led to the formation of a united South Africa. From 1891 to 1901, the city's population more than doubled from 67,000 to 171,000.<ref name="C1875">{{cite book |author1=Worden, Nigel |title=Cape Town: The Making of a City |author2=van Hyningen, Elizabeth |author3=Bickford-Smith, Vivian |publisher=David Philip Publishers |year=1998 |isbn=0-86486-435-3 |location=Claremont, Cape Town, South Africa |pages=212}}</ref>

As the 19th century came to an end, the economic and political dominance of Cape Town in the Southern Africa region during the 19th century started to give way to the dominance of Johannesburg and Pretoria in the 20th century.<ref name="AMad">{{cite book |author=Mabin, Alan |title=The Angry Divide-The underdevelopment of the Western Cape, 1850–1900 |publisher=David Philip |year=1989 |isbn=0-86486-116-8 |location=Cape Town |pages=82–94}}</ref>

===South African period===
[[File:Cape Town foreshore 1946.jpg|thumb|An aerial photograph of the newly completed Cape Town foreshore in 1945. Visible in this photograph as the large area of empty land between the City Centre and the newly constructed harbour out of reclaimed land from Table Bay.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/CTICC%20AIA%2025_10_2012.pdf |title=Archaeological Assessment of the Proposed Cape Town International Convention Centre 2 on Erwen 192, 245, 246 and the Remainder of Erf 192, "Salazar Square", Roggebaai, Cape Towm Foreshore |last=Halkett |first=D.J. |date=October 2012 |website=sahra.org.za |page=18 |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-date=29 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529140706/https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/CTICC%20AIA%2025_10_2012.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> |alt=]]
In 1910, Britain established the Union of South Africa, which unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics and the British colony of Natal. Cape Town became the legislative capital of the Union, and later of the Republic of South Africa.

By the time of the 1936 census, Johannesburg had overtaken Cape Town as the largest city in the country.

In 1945 the expansion of the Cape Town foreshore was completed adding an additional {{cvt|194|ha}} to the City Bowl area to the city centre.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/CTICC%20AIA%2025_10_2012.pdf |title=Archaeological Assessment of the Proposed Cape Town International Convention Centre 2 on Erwen 192, 245, 246 and the Remainder of Erf 192, "Salazar Square", Roggebaai, Cape Towm Foreshore |last=Halkett |first=D.J. |date=October 2012 |website=sahra.org.za |page=18 |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-date=29 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529140706/https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/CTICC%20AIA%2025_10_2012.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Apartheid era ====
Prior to the mid-twentieth century, Cape Town was one of the most racially integrated cities in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bickford-Smith |first=Vivian |date=1995 |title=South African Urban History, Racial Segregation and the Unique Case of Cape Town? |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=63–78 |issn=0305-7070 |jstor=2637331 |doi=10.1080/03057079508708433}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=628130#page=82 |title=Burdened by race: Coloured identities in southern Africa |last=Adhikari |first=Mohamed |publisher=UCT Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-92051-660-4 |location=Cape Town |pages=51 |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720174913/http://oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=628130#page=82 |archive-date=20 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1948 national elections, the National Party won on a platform of ''apartheid'' (racial segregation) under the slogan of "swart gevaar" (Afrikaans for "black danger"). This led to the erosion and eventual abolition of the Cape's multiracial franchise.

In 1950, the apartheid government first introduced the Group Areas Act, which classified and segregated urban areas according to race. Formerly multi-racial suburbs of Cape Town were either purged of residents deemed unlawful by apartheid legislation, or demolished. The most infamous example of this in Cape Town was the suburb of District Six. After it was declared a whites-only area in 1965, all housing there was demolished and over 60,000 residents were forcibly removed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/districtsix.htm |publisher=SouthAfrica.info |title=Recalling District Six |date=19 August 2003 |access-date=13 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206234327/http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/districtsix.htm |archive-date=6 February 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many of these residents were relocated to the Cape Flats.

The earliest of the Cape Flats forced removals saw the expulsion of Black South Africans to the Langa, Cape Town's first and oldest township, in line with the 1923 Native Urban Areas Act.

Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of "Bantus", i.e. Black Africans. The implementation of this policy was widely opposed by trade unions, civil society and opposition parties. It is notable that this policy was not advocated for by any Coloured political group, and its implementation was a unilateral decision by the apartheid government.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/coloured-labour-preference-area-policy-paper-presented-cape-western-region-national-conference-1983 |title="The Coloured Labour Preference Area Policy"- Paper Presented by Cape Western Region to National Conference 1983 |last=Sash |first=Black |date=3 November 1983 |website=National texts, 1955–1994 |access-date=16 December 2019 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216183957/https://digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/coloured-labour-preference-area-policy-paper-presented-cape-western-region-national-conference-1983 |url-status=live}}</ref> During the student-led Soweto Uprising of June 1976, school students from Langa, Gugulethu and Nyanga in Cape Town reacted to the news of the protests against Bantu Education by organising gatherings and marches of their own. A number of school buildings were burnt down and the protest action was met with forceful resistance from the police.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/cape-schools-join-revolt |title=Cape Schools Join the Revolt – South African History Online |access-date=16 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714145633/http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/cape-schools-join-revolt |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/western-cape-youth-uprising-timeline-1976 |title=Western Cape Youth Uprising timeline 1976 – South African History Online |access-date=16 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804024701/http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/western-cape-youth-uprising-timeline-1976 |archive-date=4 August 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cape Town has been home to many leaders of the [[Social:Internal resistance to apartheid|anti-apartheid movement]]. In Table Bay, {{cvt|10|km|0|abbr=off}} from the city is Robben Island. This penitentiary island was the site of a maximum security prison where many famous apartheird-era political prisoners served long prison sentences. Famous prisoners include activist, lawyer and future president Nelson Mandela who served 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment on the island, as well as two other future presidents, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

In one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, [[Biography:Nelson Mandela|Nelson Mandela]] made his first public speech since his imprisonment, from the balcony of Cape Town City Hall, hours after being released on 11 February 1990. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country. The first democratic election, was held four years later, on 27 April 1994.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Nobel Square in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront features statues of South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners: [[Biography:Albert Luthuli|Albert Luthuli]], [[Biography:Desmond Tutu|Desmond Tutu]], [[Biography:F. W. de Klerk|F. W. de Klerk]] and [[Biography:Nelson Mandela|Nelson Mandela]].{{Relevance inline|discuss=Is this relevant to the history section?|date=September 2023}}

==== Post-apartheid era ====
Cape Town faced a severe water shortage from 2015 to 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cassim |first=Zaheer |title=Cape Town could be the first major city in the world to run out of water |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/19/cape-town-could-first-major-city-run-out-water/1047237001/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>

Since the 2010s, Cape Town and the wider Western Cape province have seen the rise of a small secessionist movement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Charles |first=Marvin |title=Cape Independence: Lobby group says recent survey 'places intense pressure' on DA to hold referendum |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-independence-lobby-group-says-recent-survey-places-intense-pressure-on-da-to-hold-referendum-20210813 |access-date=12 October 2021 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=5 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005185704/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-independence-lobby-group-says-recent-survey-places-intense-pressure-on-da-to-hold-referendum-20210813 |url-status=live }}</ref> Support for parties "which have formally adopted Cape independence" was around 5% in the 2021 municipal elections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parties which supported Western Cape independence from SA reap rewards in local government elections |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/parties-which-supported-western-cape-independence-from-sa-reap-rewards-in-local-government-elections-e96b30e7-834d-4e7f-8dd9-99268088892b |access-date=15 November 2021 |website=iol.co.za |language=en |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115210230/https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/parties-which-supported-western-cape-independence-from-sa-reap-rewards-in-local-government-elections-e96b30e7-834d-4e7f-8dd9-99268088892b |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Geography and the natural environment==
[[File:The Mother City - South Africa (2417714757).jpg|thumb|Devil's Peak, Table Mountain and Lion's Head]]
[[File:Cape_fires_(32827624088).jpg|thumb|Satellite image of Cape Town showing the Cape Peninsula (left), Cape Flats and False Bay]]
[[File:Table Mountain Cape Town South Africa 19Mar2018 SkySat.jpg|thumb|Satellite image 3D of the City Bowl and Table Mountain]]
Cape Town is located at latitude 33.55° S (approximately the same as [[Place:Sydney|Sydney]] and [[Place:Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires]] and equivalent to [[Place:Casablanca|Casablanca]] and {{wipe|Los Angeles}} in the northern hemisphere) and longitude 18.25° E.

Table Mountain, with its near vertical cliffs and flat-topped summit over {{cvt|1000|m|ft}} high, and with Devil's Peak and Lion's Head on either side, together form a dramatic mountainous backdrop enclosing the central area of Cape Town, the so-called City Bowl. A thin strip of cloud, known colloquially as the "tablecloth" ("Karos" in [[Social:Afrikaans|Afrikaans]]), sometimes forms on top of the mountain. To the immediate south of the city, the Cape Peninsula is a scenic mountainous spine jutting {{cvt|40|km}} southward into the [[Earth:Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic Ocean]] and terminating at Cape Point.

There are over 70 peaks above {{cvt|300|m}} within Cape Town's official metropolitan limits. Many of the city's suburbs lie on the large plain called the Cape Flats, which extends over {{cvt|50|km|-1}} to the east and joins the peninsula to the mainland. The Cape Town region is characterised by an extensive coastline, rugged mountain ranges, coastal plains and inland valleys.

=== Extent ===
The extent of Cape Town has varied considerably over time. It originated as a small settlement at the foot of Table Mountain and has grown beyond its city limits as a metropolitan area to encompass the entire Cape Peninsula to the south, the Cape Flats, the Helderberg basin and part of the Steenbras catchment area to the east, and the Tygerberg hills, Blouberg and other areas to the north. Robben Island in Table Bay is also part of Cape Town. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and False Bay to the south. To the north and east, the extent is demarcated by boundaries of neighbouring municipalities within the Western Cape province.

The official boundaries of the city proper extend between the City Bowl and the Atlantic Seaboard to the east and the Southern Suburbs to the south. The City of Cape Town, the [[Earth:Metropolitan municipality|metropolitan municipality]] that takes its name from the city covers the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area, known as the Cape Metropole, extending beyond the city proper itself to include a number of satellite towns, suburbs and rural areas such as Milnerton, Atlantis, Bellville, Brackenfell, Durbanville, Goodwood, Gordon's Bay, Hout Bay, Kraaifontein, Kuilsrivier, Muizenberg, Simon's Town, Somerset West and Strand among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Census 2011: Metropolitan Municipality: City of Cape Town |url=https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/199 |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=census2011.adrianfrith.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Census 2011: Main Place: Cape Town |url=https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/199041 |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=census2011.adrianfrith.com}}</ref>

The Cape Peninsula is {{cvt|52|km|-1}} long from Mouille Point in the north to Cape Point in the south,<ref name="Map 3318" /> with an area of about {{cvt|470|km2|sqmi}}, and it displays more topographical variety than other similar sized areas in southern Africa, and consequently spectacular scenery. There are diverse low-nutrient soils, large rocky outcrops, scree slopes, a mainly rocky coastline with embayed beaches, and considerable local variation in climatic conditions.<ref name="Cowling et al 1996" /> The sedimentary rocks of the Cape Supergroup, of which parts of the Graafwater and Peninsula Formations remain, were uplifted between 280 and 21S million years ago, and were largely eroded away during the Mesozoic. The region was geologically stable during the Tertiary, which has led to slow denudation of the durable sandstones. Erosion rate and drainage has been influenced by fault lines and fractures, leaving remnant steep-sided massifs like Table Mountain surrounded by flatter slopes of deposits of the eroded material overlaying the older rocks,<ref name="Cowling et al 1996" />

There are two internationally notable landmarks, Table Mountain and Cape Point, at opposite ends of the Peninsula Mountain Chain, with the Cape Flats and False Bay to the east and the [[Earth:Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic Ocean]] to the west. The landscape is dominated by sandstone plateaux and ridges, which generally drop steeply at their margins to the surrounding debris slopes, interrupted by a major gap at the Fish Hoek–Noordhoek valley. In the south much of the area is a low sandstone plateau with sand dunes. Maximum altitude is 1113&nbsp;m on Table Mountain.<ref name="Cowling et al 1996" /> The Cape Flats (Afrikaans: Kaapse Vlakte) is a flat, low-lying, sandy area, area to the east the Cape Peninsula, and west of the Helderberg much of which was wetland and dunes within recent history. To the north are the Tygerberg Hills and the Stellenbosch district.

The Helderberg area of Greater Cape Town, previously known as the "Hottentots-Holland" area, is mostly residential, but also a wine-producing area east of the Cape Flats, west of the Hottentots Holland mountain range and south of the Helderberg mountain, from which it gets its current name. The Helderberg consists of the previous municipalities of Somerset West, Strand, Gordons Bay and a few other towns. Industry and commerce is largely in service of the area. After the Cape Peninsula, Helderberg is the next most mountainous part of Greater Cape Town, bordered to the north and east by the highest peaks in the region along the watershed of the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland Mountains, which are part of the Cape Fold Belt with Cape Supergroup strata on a basement of Tygerberg Formation rocks intruded by part of the Stellenbosch granite pluton. The region includes the entire catchment of the Lourens and Sir Lowry's rivers, separated by the Schapenberg hill, and a small part of the catchment of the Eerste River to the west. The Helderberg is ecologically highly diverse, rivaling the Cape Peninsula, and has its own endemic ecoregions and several conservation areas.

To the east of the Hottentots Holland mountains is the valley of the Steenbras River, in which the Steenbras Dam was built as a water supply for Cape Town. The dam has been supplemented by several other dams around the western Cape, some of them considerably larger. This is almost entirely a conservation area, of high biodiversity. Bellville, Brackenfell, Durbanville, Kraaifontein, Goodwood and Parow are a few of the towns that make up the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. In current popular culture these areas are often referred to as being beyond the "boerewors curtain," a play on the term "[[Social:Iron Curtain|iron curtain]]."

[[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]] declared Robben Island in the Western Cape a World Heritage Site in 1999. Robben Island is located in Table Bay, some {{cvt|6|km}} west of Bloubergstrand, a coastal suburb north of Cape Town, and stands some 30m above sea level. Robben Island has been used as a prison where people were isolated, banished, and exiled for nearly 400 years. It was also used as a [[Medicine:Leprosy|leper]] colony, a post office, a grazing ground, a mental hospital, and an outpost.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/robben-island |title=Robben Island |date=14 July 2011 |website=South African History Online |access-date=24 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401181709/https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/robben-island |archive-date=1 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{wide image|Ciudad del Cabo desde Cabeza de León, Sudáfrica, 2018-07-22, DD 20-23 PAN.jpg|850px|Cape Town's "City Bowl" viewed from Lion's Head in May (late autumn)}}

===Geology===
[[File:Geological map of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay.png|thumb|upright|left|Geological map of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay]]

The Cape Peninsula is a rocky and mountainous [[Earth:Peninsula|peninsula]] that juts out into the [[Earth:Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic Ocean]] at the south-western extremity of the continent. At its tip is Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The peninsula forms the west side of False Bay and the Cape Flats. On the east side are the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland mountains. The three main rock formations are the late-[[Earth:Precambrian|Precambrian]] Malmebury group (sedimentary and metamorphic rock), the Cape Granite suit, comprising the huge Peninsula, Kuilsrivier-Helderberg, and Stellenbosch batholiths, that were intruded into the Malmesbury Group about 630 million years ago, and the Table Mountain group sandstones that were deposited on the eroded surface of the granite and Malmesbury series basement about 450 million years ago.

The sand, silt and mud deposits were lithified by pressure and then folded during the Cape Orogeny to form the Cape Fold Belt, which extends in an arc along the western and southern coasts. The present landscape is due to prolonged erosion having carved out deep valleys, removing parts of the once continuous Table Mountain Group sandstone cover from over the Cape Flats and False Bay, and leaving high residual mountain ridges.<ref name="Compton 2004" />

At times the sea covered the Cape Flats and Noordhoek valley and the Cape Peninsula was then a group of islands. During glacial periods the sea level dropped to expose the bottom of False Bay to weathering and erosion, with the last major regression leaving the entire bottom of False Bay exposed. During this period an extensive system of dunes was formed on the sandy floor of False Bay. At this time the drainage outlets lay between Rocky Bank Cape Point to the west, and between Rocky Bank and Hangklip Ridge to the east, with the watershed roughly along the line of the contact zone east of Seal Island and Whittle Rock.<ref name="Compton 2004" /><ref name="Brown and Magoba 2009 part 1" />{{rp|Ch2}}

===Climate===
[[File:Llandudno_Beach,_Cape_Town,_Western_Cape_Province_(6252674535).jpg|thumb|Llandudno, Western Cape during a sunny day]]
Cape Town has a warm [[Earth:Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean climate]] ([[Earth:Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Csb''),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Peter J. |last2=Henderson-Sellers |first2=Ann |title=Contemporary Climatology |year=1999 |publisher=Pearson Education Limited |location=Harlow |isbn=9780582276314 |page=123}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rohli |first1=Robert V. |last2=Vega |first2=Anthony J. |title=Climatology |year=2011 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |location=Sudbury, MA |isbn=9781449649548 |page=250 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WhtZKBCv7NMC |access-date=27 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121014626/https://books.google.com/books?id=WhtZKBCv7NMC |archive-date=21 November 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cape Point (South Africa) |work=Global Atmosphere Watch Station Information System (GAWSIS) |publisher=Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss |url=http://gaw.empa.ch/gawsis/reports.asp?StationID=35 |access-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827135620/http://gaw.empa.ch/gawsis/reports.asp?StationID=35 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |quote=climate zone – Csb (Warm temperate climate with dry and warm summer)}}</ref>
with mild, moderately wet winters and dry, warm summers. Winter, which lasts from June to September, may see large cold fronts entering for limited periods from the Atlantic Ocean with significant precipitation and strong north-westerly winds. Winter months in the city average a maximum of {{cvt|18|C|0}} and minimum of {{cvt|8.5|C|0}}. Winters are [[Physics:Snow|snow]] and [[Earth:Frost|frost]] free, except on Table Mountain and on other mountain peaks, where  light accumulation of snow and frost can sometimes occur.<ref name="WMO">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldweather.org/035/c00138.htm |title=World Weather Information Service – Cape Town |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426062632/http://www.worldweather.org/035/c00138.htm |archive-date=26 April 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Total annual rainfall in the city averages {{cvt|515|mm|in|1}} although in the Southern Suburbs, close to the mountains, rainfall is significantly higher and averages closer to {{cvt|1000|mm|in|1|abbr=}}.

Summer, which lasts from December to March, is warm and dry with an average maximum of {{cvt|26|°C|0}} and minimum of {{cvt|16|°C|0}}. The region can get uncomfortably hot when the Berg Wind, meaning "mountain wind", blows from the Karoo interior. Spring and summer generally feature a strong wind from the south-east, known locally as the south-{{not a typo|easter}} or the Cape Doctor, so called because it blows air pollution away. This wind is caused by a persistent [[Earth:Pressure system#High-pressure system|high-pressure system]] over the South Atlantic to the west of Cape Town, known as the [[Earth:South Atlantic High|South Atlantic High]], which shifts latitude seasonally, following the sun, and influencing the strength of the fronts and their northward reach. Cape Town receives about 3,100 hours of sunshine per year.<ref name=NOAA/>

Water temperatures range greatly, between {{cvt|10|°C|0}} on the Atlantic Seaboard, to over {{cvt|22|°C|0}} in False Bay. Average annual ocean surface temperatures are between {{cvt|13|°C|0}} on the Atlantic Seaboard (similar to Californian waters, such as {{wipe|San Francisco}} or Big Sur), and {{cvt|17|°C|0}} in False Bay (similar to Northern Mediterranean temperatures, such as Nice or Monte Carlo).

Unlike other parts of the country the city does not have many [[Physics:Thunderstorm|thunderstorm]]s, and most of those that do occur, happen around October to December and March to April.
{{Weather box
| location = Cape Town (1961–1990)
| metric first = Y
| single line = Y
| Jan record high C = 45.2
| Feb record high C = 38.3
| Mar record high C = 43.0
| Apr record high C = 38.6
| May record high C = 33.5
| Jun record high C = 29.8
| Jul record high C = 29.0
| Aug record high C = 32.0
| Sep record high C = 33.1
| Oct record high C = 37.2
| Nov record high C = 39.9
| Dec record high C = 41.4
| Jan avg record high C = 33.6
| Feb avg record high C = 34.1
| Mar avg record high C = 33.2
| Apr avg record high C = 31.7
| May avg record high C = 29.1
| Jun avg record high C = 26.3
| Jul avg record high C = 25.1
| Aug avg record high C = 26.9
| Sep avg record high C = 28.3
| Oct avg record high C = 31.0
| Nov avg record high C = 31.6
| Dec avg record high C = 32.5
| Jan high C = 26.1
| Feb high C = 26.5
| Mar high C = 25.4
| Apr high C = 23.0
| May high C = 20.3
| Jun high C = 18.1
| Jul high C = 17.5
| Aug high C = 17.8
| Sep high C = 19.2
| Oct high C = 21.3
| Nov high C = 23.5
| Dec high C = 24.9
| Jan mean C = 20.4
| Feb mean C = 20.4
| Mar mean C = 19.2
| Apr mean C = 16.9
| May mean C = 14.4
| Jun mean C = 12.5
| Jul mean C = 11.9
| Aug mean C = 12.4
| Sep mean C = 13.7
| Oct mean C = 15.6
| Nov mean C = 17.9
| Dec mean C = 19.5
| Jan low C = 15.7
| Feb low C = 15.6
| Mar low C = 14.2
| Apr low C = 11.9
| May low C = 9.4
| Jun low C = 7.8
| Jul low C = 7.0
| Aug low C = 7.5
| Sep low C = 8.7
| Oct low C = 10.6
| Nov low C = 13.2
| Dec low C = 14.9
| Jan avg record low C = 10.3
| Feb avg record low C = 9.9
| Mar avg record low C = 7.6
| Apr avg record low C = 5.7
| May avg record low C = 2.8
| Jun avg record low C = 1.3
| Jul avg record low C = 1.0
| Aug avg record low C = 1.3
| Sep avg record low C = 2.3
| Oct avg record low C = 4.4
| Nov avg record low C = 7.0
| Dec avg record low C = 9.5
| Jan record low C = 7.4
| Feb record low C = 6.4
| Mar record low C = 4.6
| Apr record low C = 2.4
| May record low C = 0.9
| Jun record low C = -1.2
| Jul record low C = -1.3
| Aug record low C = -0.4
| Sep record low C = 0.2
| Oct record low C = 1.0
| Nov record low C = 3.9
| Dec record low C = 6.2
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 15
| Feb precipitation mm = 17
| Mar precipitation mm = 20
| Apr precipitation mm = 41
| May precipitation mm = 69
| Jun precipitation mm = 93
| Jul precipitation mm = 82
| Aug precipitation mm = 77
| Sep precipitation mm = 40
| Oct precipitation mm = 30
| Nov precipitation mm = 14
| Dec precipitation mm = 17
| unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 5.5
| Feb precipitation days = 4.6
| Mar precipitation days = 4.8
| Apr precipitation days = 8.3
| May precipitation days = 11.4
| Jun precipitation days = 13.3
| Jul precipitation days = 11.8
| Aug precipitation days = 13.7
| Sep precipitation days = 10.4
| Oct precipitation days = 8.7
| Nov precipitation days = 4.9
| Dec precipitation days = 6.3
| Jan humidity = 71
| Feb humidity = 72
| Mar humidity = 74
| Apr humidity = 78
| May humidity = 81
| Jun humidity = 81
| Jul humidity = 81
| Aug humidity = 80
| Sep humidity = 77
| Oct humidity = 74
| Nov humidity = 71
| Dec humidity = 71
| Jan sun = 337.9
| Feb sun = 297.4
| Mar sun = 292.9
| Apr sun = 233.5
| May sun = 205.3
| Jun sun = 175.4
| Jul sun = 193.1
| Aug sun = 212.1
| Sep sun = 224.7
| Oct sun = 277.7
| Nov sun = 309.8
| Dec sun = 334.2
| Jan uv = 12
| Feb uv = 11
| Mar uv = 8
| Apr uv = 5
| May uv = 3
| Jun uv = 2
| Jul uv = 2
| Aug uv = 4
| Sep uv = 6
| Oct uv = 8
| Nov uv = 10
| Dec uv = 12
| source = [[Organization:World Meteorological Organization|World Meteorological Organization]],<ref name="WMO"/> NOAA,<ref name="NOAA">{{cite web |url=ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-I/UA/68816.TXT |title=Cape Town/DF Malan Climate Normals 1961–1990 |publisher=[[Organization:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] |access-date=8 April 2013}}</ref> South African Weather Service,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.weathersa.co.za/Climat/Climstats/CapeTownStats.jsp |title=Climate data: Cape Town |publisher=Old.weathersa.co.za |date=28 October 2003 |access-date=17 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314111749/http://old.weathersa.co.za/Climat/Climstats/CapeTownStats.jsp |archive-date=14 March 2011}}</ref> eNCA<ref name="enca">{{cite web |url=http://www.enca.com/south-africa/its-hottest-day-cape-town-century |title=Hottest temperature |publisher=enca.com |access-date=6 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720034623/http://www.enca.com/south-africa/its-hottest-day-cape-town-century |archive-date=20 July 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> |date=March 2011 }}

==== Climate change ====
A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under [[Earth:Representative Concentration Pathway#4.5|Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5]], a "moderate" scenario of [[Earth:Climate change|climate change]] where global warming reaches ~{{cvt|2.5-3|C-change|F-change}} by 2100, the climate of Cape Town in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Perth in {{wipe|Australia}}. The annual temperature would increase by {{cvt|1.1|C-change|F-change}}, and the temperature of the coldest month by {{cvt|0.3|C-change|F-change}}, while the temperature of the warmest month would be {{cvt|2.3|C-change|F-change}} higher.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bastin |first1=Jean-Francois |last2=Clark |first2=Emily |last3=Elliott |first3=Thomas |last4=Hart |first4=Simon |last5=van den Hoogen |first5=Johan |last6=Hordijk |first6=Iris |last7=Ma |first7=Haozhi |last8=Majumder |first8=Sabiha |last9=Manoli |first9=Gabriele |last10=Maschler |first10=Julia |last11=Mo |first11=Lidong |last12=Routh |first12=Devin |last13=Yu |first13=Kailiang |last14=Zohner |first14=Constantin M. |last15=Thomas W. |first15=Crowther |title=Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues |journal=PLOS ONE |date=10 July 2019 |volume=14 |issue=7 |at=S2 Table. Summary statistics of the global analysis of city analogues. |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0217592|pmid=31291249 |pmc=6619606 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1417592B |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://crowtherlab.pageflow.io/cities-of-the-future-visualizing-climate-change-to-inspire-action |title=Cities of the future: visualizing climate change to inspire action |at=Current vs. future cities |access-date=8 January 2023 |archive-date=8 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108082440/https://crowtherlab.pageflow.io/cities-of-the-future-visualizing-climate-change-to-inspire-action |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Climate Action Tracker, the current warming trajectory appears consistent with {{cvt|2.7|C-change|F-change}}, which closely matches RCP 4.5.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/ |title=The CAT Thermometer |access-date=8 January 2023 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414131223/https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Moreover, according to the 2022 [[Earth:IPCC Sixth Assessment Report|IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]], Cape Town is one of 12 major African cities ([[Place:Abidjan|Abidjan]], [[Place:Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Place:Algiers|Algiers]], Cape Town, [[Place:Casablanca|Casablanca]], [[Place:Dakar|Dakar]], [[Place:Dar es Salaam|Dar es Salaam]], Durban, [[Place:Lagos|Lagos]], [[Place:Lomé|Lomé]], [[Place:Luanda|Luanda]] and [[Place:Maputo|Maputo]]) which would be the most severely affected by future [[Earth:Sea level rise|sea level rise]]. It estimates that they would collectively sustain cumulative damages of US$65 billion under RCP 4.5 and US$86.5 billion for the high-emission scenario RCP 8.5 by the year 2050. Additionally, RCP 8.5 combined with the hypothetical impact from [[Earth:Marine ice sheet instability|marine ice sheet instability]] at high levels of warming would involve up to US$137.5 billion in damages, while the additional accounting for the "low-probability, high-damage events" may increase aggregate risks to US$187 billion for the "moderate" RCP4.5, US$206 billion for RCP8.5 and US$397 billion under the high-end ice sheet instability scenario.<ref>Trisos, C.H., I.O. Adelekan, E. Totin, A. Ayanlade, J. Efitre, A. Gemeda, K. Kalaba, C. Lennard, C. Masao, Y. Mgaya, G. Ngaruiya, D. Olago, N.P. Simpson, and S. Zakieldeen 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter09.pdf Chapter 9: Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206082533/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter09.pdf |date=6 December 2022 }}. In [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228114918/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ |date=28 February 2022 }} [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, US, pp. 2043–2121</ref> Since sea level rise would continue for about 10,000 years under every scenario of climate change, future costs of sea level rise would only increase, especially without adaptation measures.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |title=Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=August 2021 |publisher=IPCC |page=TS14 |access-date=12 November 2021 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813201719/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Hydrology===
<!-- {{main|Rivers of Cape Town}} -->

==== Sea surface temperatures ====
[[File:Sea surface temperatures False Bay.png|thumb|left|upright=2.2|Charts of sea surface temperature in and near False Bay in summer and winter<ref name="Pfaff et al 2019" />]]
Cape Town's coastal water ranges from cold to mild, and the difference between the two sides of the peninsula can be dramatic. While the Atlantic Seaboard averages annual sea surface temperatures around {{cvt|13|°C|°F}}, the False Bay coast is much warmer, averaging between {{cvt|16|and|17|C|F}} annually.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} In summer, False Bay water averages slightly over {{cvt|20|°C|°F}}, with {{cvt|22|°C|°F}} an occasional high. Beaches located on the Atlantic Coast tend to have colder water due to the wind driven upwellings which contribute to the [[Earth:Benguela Current|Benguela Current]] which originates off the Cape Peninsula, while the water at False Bay beaches may occasionally be warmer by up to {{cvt|10|C-change|0}} at the same time in summer.

In summer False Bay is thermally stratified, with a vertical temperature variation of 5 to 9˚C between the warmer surface water and cooler depths below 50&nbsp;m, while in winter the water column is at nearly constant temperature at all depths. The development of a [[Earth:Thermocline|thermocline]] is strongest around late December and peaks in late summer to early autumn.<ref name="Coleman 2019" />{{rp|8}} In summer the south easterly winds generate a zone of upwelling near Cape Hangklip, where surface water temperatures can be 6 to 7&nbsp;°C colder than the surrounding areas, and bottom temperatures below 12&nbsp;°C.<ref name="Coleman 2019" />{{rp|10}}

In the summer to early autumn (January–March), cold water upwelling near Cape Hangklip causes a strong surface temperature gradient between the south-western and north-eastern corners of the bay. In winter the surface temperature tends to be much the same everywhere. In the northern sector surface temperature varies a bit more (13 to 22&nbsp;°C) than in the south (14 to 20&nbsp;°C) during the year.<ref name="Pfaff et al 2019" />

Surface temperature variation from year to year is linked to the [[Earth:El Niño–Southern Oscillation|El Niño–Southern Oscillation]]. During El Niño years the South Atlantic high is shifted, reducing the south-easterly winds, so upwelling and evaporative cooling are reduced and sea surface temperatures throughout the bay are warmer, while in La Niña years there is more wind and upwelling and consequently lower temperatures. Surface water heating during El Niño increases vertical stratification. The relationship is not linear.<ref name="Pfaff et al 2019" /> Occasionally eddies from the Agulhas current will bring warmer water and vagrant sea life carried from the south and east coasts into False Bay.

===Flora and fauna===
[[File:Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos - Cape Town 8.JPG|thumb|Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos growing in Table Mountain National Park.]]

Located in a [[Organization:Conservation International|Conservation International]] [[Biology:Biodiversity hotspot|biodiversity hotspot]] as well as the unique [[Biology:Cape Floristic Region|Cape Floristic Region]], the city of Cape Town has one of the highest levels of [[Biology:Biodiversity|biodiversity]] of any equivalent area in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Pages/BrochuresBooklets.aspx |title=Brochures, booklets and posters |publisher=Capetown.gov.za |access-date=1 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121223125053/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Pages/Brochuresbooklets.aspx |archive-date=23 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="fri1">{{cite news |last1=Friedman |first1=Barbara |title=Cape Town recorded most sightings and species in world 2021 #CityNatureChallenge |url=https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/416381/cape-town-recorded-most-sightings-and-species-in-world-citynaturechallenge2021 |access-date=19 May 2021 |work=Lifestyle |agency=Cape Talk 567 AM |publisher=capetalk.co.za |date=14 May 2021 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519021337/https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/416381/cape-town-recorded-most-sightings-and-species-in-world-citynaturechallenge2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> These protected areas are a World Heritage Site, and an estimated 2,200 species of plants are confined to Table Mountain – more than exist in the whole of the {{wipe|United Kingdom}} which has 1200 plant species and 67 endemic plant species.<ref>{{cite web |title=Unique Biodiversity Poster |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiversity_poster-CT_Unique_Biodiv_SPECIES_2011-02.pdf |access-date=6 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725080811/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiversity_poster-CT_Unique_Biodiv_SPECIES_2011-02.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Cape Town Tourism |url=http://www.capetown.travel/votefortablemountain/ |title=Vote for Table Mountain – Cape Town Tourism |publisher=Capetown.travel |access-date=12 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112172911/http://www.capetown.travel/votefortablemountain/ |archive-date=12 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southafricaholiday.org.uk/places/p_western_cape.htm |title=Western Cape |publisher=Southafricaholiday.org.uk |access-date=12 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210202319/http://www.southafricaholiday.org.uk/places/p_western_cape.htm |archive-date=10 December 2012}}</ref> Many of these species, including a great many types of [[Biology:Protea|protea]]s, are endemic to the mountain and can be found nowhere else.<ref>A.G. Rebelo, C. Boucher, N. Helme, L. Mucina, M.C. Rutherford et al. 2006. Fynbos Biome, in: L. Mucina & M.C. Rutherford (eds). ''The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.''</ref>

It is home to a total of 19 different [[Earth:Phytochorion|vegetation types]], of which several are [[Biology:Endemism|endemic]] to the city and occur nowhere else in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/Vegetation%20Types.mht |title=National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2005 Targets |publisher=Capetown.gov.za |access-date=24 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824223150/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/Vegetation%20Types.mht |archive-date=24 August 2013}}</ref>
It is also the only habitat of hundreds of endemic species,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_suppl_Endemic_spp_list_2010-03.pdf |title=Endemic Species of the city of Cape Town |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101122444/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_suppl_Endemic_spp_list_2010-03.pdf |archive-date=1 November 2011}}</ref> and hundreds of others which are severely restricted or threatened. This enormous species diversity is mainly because the city is uniquely located at the convergence point of several different soil types and micro-climates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lemaire |first1=Benny |last2=Dlodlo |first2=Oscar |last3=Chimphango |first3=Samson |last4=Stirton |first4=Charles |last5=Schrire |first5=Brian |last6=Boatwright |first6=James S. |last7=Honnay |first7=Olivier |last8=Smets |first8=Erik |last9=Sprent |first9=Janet|last10=James|first10=Euan K. |last11=Muasya |first11=Abraham M. |date=2015 |title=Symbiotic diversity, specificity and distribution of rhizobia in native legumes of the Core Cape Subregion (South Africa) |url=https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/91/2/1/2467736 |journal=FEMS Microbiology Ecology |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1093/femsec/fiu024 |pmid=25764552 |via=Oxford Academic |doi-access=free |access-date=19 January 2021 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427033901/https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/91/2/1/2467736 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Linder |first=H. P. |date=2003 |title=The radiation of the Cape flora, southern Africa |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1017/S1464793103006171 |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=597–638 |doi=10.1017/S1464793103006171 |pmid=14700393 |s2cid=43101616 |via=|access-date=19 January 2021 |archive-date=29 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529140752/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1017/S1464793103006171 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Table Mountain has an unusually rich biodiversity. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape [[Biology:Fynbos|Fynbos]]. The main vegetation type is endangered Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, but [[Biology:Critically endangered|critically endangered]] Peninsula Granite Fynbos, [[Biology:Peninsula Shale Renosterveld|Peninsula Shale Renosterveld]] and Afromontane forest occur in smaller portions on the mountain.

Rapid population growth and urban sprawl has covered much of these ecosystems with development. Consequently, Cape Town now has over 300 threatened plant species and 13 which are now extinct. The Cape Peninsula, which lies entirely within the city of Cape Town, has the highest concentration of [[Biology:Threatened species|threatened species]] of any continental area of equivalent size in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://perceval.bio.nau.edu/downloads/grail/climate_seminar/section2/Hannah_etal05.pdf |title=The View from The Cape: Extinction Risk, Protected Areas, and Climate Change |publisher=Perceval.bio.nau.edu |access-date=24 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825180525/http://perceval.bio.nau.edu/downloads/grail/climate_seminar/section2/Hannah_etal05.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2013}}</ref>
Tiny remnant populations of [[Biology:Critically endangered|critically endangered]] or near extinct plants sometimes survive on road sides, pavements and sports fields.<ref>[http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_8_threatened_species_2010-03.pdf]{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The remaining ecosystems are partially protected through a system of over 30 nature reserves – including the massive Table Mountain National Park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nature-reserve.co.za/cape-peninsula-national-park.html |title=Table Mountain National Park |publisher=nature-reserve.co.za |access-date=9 July 2020 |archive-date=5 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605084259/http://www.nature-reserve.co.za/cape-peninsula-national-park.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cape Town reached first place in the 2019 iNaturalist City Nature Challenge in two out of the three categories: Most Observations, and Most Species. This was the first entry by Capetonians in this annual competition to observe and record the local biodiversity over a four-day long weekend during what is considered the worst time of the year for local observations.<ref name="Two Oceans" >{{cite web |url=https://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/cape-town-claims-the-top-spot-in-city-nature-challenge-2019 |title=Congratulations! Cape Town claims the top spot in the international City Nature Challenge 2019 |date=7 May 2019 |access-date=5 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805185315/https://www.aquarium.co.za/blog/entry/cape-town-claims-the-top-spot-in-city-nature-challenge-2019 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> A worldwide survey suggested that the extinction rate of endemic plants from the City of Cape Town is one of the highest in the world, at roughly three per year since 1900 – partly a consequence of the very small and localised habitats and high endemicity.<ref name="Rebelo 2019" >{{cite web |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-cape-town/journal/25459 |title=And we feature again!!! Cape Town in the forefront ... |last1=Rebelo |first1=Tony |date=12 June 2019 |access-date=5 August 2019 |website=iNaturalist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805162241/https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-cape-town/journal/25459 |archive-date=5 August 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Government==
Cape Town is governed by a 231-member city council elected in a system of [[Social:Mixed-member proportional representation|mixed-member proportional representation]]. The city is divided into 116 wards, each of which elects a councillor by first-past-the-post voting. The remaining 115 councillors are elected from party lists so that the total number of councillors for each party is proportional to the number of votes received by that party.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Piombo |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbTFAAAAQBAJ&q=%22cape+town%22+councillor+election+%22party+lists%22+first-past-the-post&pg=PA203 |title=Institutions, Ethnicity, and Political Mobilization in South Africa |date=3 August 2009 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-62382-8 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427045402/https://books.google.com/books?id=gbTFAAAAQBAJ&q=%22cape+town%22+councillor+election+%22party+lists%22+first-past-the-post&pg=PA203 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Anciano |first1=Fiona |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8yVxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22cape+town%22+116+wards&pg=PT51 |title=Democracy Disconnected: Participation and Governance in a City of the South |last2=Piper |first2=Laurence |date=3 October 2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-79429-2 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426203322/https://books.google.com/books?id=8yVxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22cape+town%22+116+wards&pg=PT51 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 2021 Municipal Elections, the Democratic Alliance (DA) kept its majority, this time diminished, taking 136 seats. The African National Congress lost substantially, receiving 43 of the seats.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IEC Results Dashboard |url=https://results.elections.org.za/dashboards/lge/ |access-date=8 November 2021 |website=results.elections.org.za |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108025842/https://results.elections.org.za/dashboards/lge/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Seat Calculation Detail: City of Cape Town. Electoral Commission of South Africa [https://results.elections.org.za/home/LGEPublicReports/1091/Seat%20Calculation%20Detail/WP/CPT.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106113713/https://results.elections.org.za/home/LGEPublicReports/1091/Seat%20Calculation%20Detail/WP/CPT.pdf|date=6 November 2021}}</ref> The Democratic Alliance candidate for the Cape Town mayoralty, Geordin Hill-Lewis was elected mayor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WATCH: Geordin Hill-Lewis officially becomes Cape Town's youngest mayor after council vote |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/watch-geordin-hill-lewis-officially-becomes-cape-towns-youngest-mayor-after-council-vote-b56e46eb-336d-41fa-8486-32085841e63f |access-date=18 November 2021 |website=iol.co.za |language=en |archive-date=18 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118110127/https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/watch-geordin-hill-lewis-officially-becomes-cape-towns-youngest-mayor-after-council-vote-b56e46eb-336d-41fa-8486-32085841e63f |url-status=live }}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" height="270px">
CT City Hall Before the Sun.jpg|The Old Cape Town City Hall as seen from the Grand Parade in front of the building.
Cape Town Civic Centre.jpg|The Cape Town Civic Centre, the central offices of the City of Cape Town.
Western Cape Provincial Parliament (2018) (cropped wo cars).jpg|The Western Cape Provincial Parliament
9 2 018 0234-Houses of Parliament-The Cape-s.jpg|South Africa's national parliament building is located in Cape Town.
</gallery>

===International relations===
Cape Town has nineteen active sister city agreements<ref name="International agreements City of Cape Town">{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/Meet-the-City/External-relations/sister-cities-partnership-agreements |title=Sister cities partnership agreements |access-date=20 March 2020 |publisher=City of Cape Town |archive-date=4 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704014201/https://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/Meet-the-City/External-relations/sister-cities-partnership-agreements |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*{{flagicon|DEU}} Aachen, Germany
*{{flagicon|GHA}} [[Place:Accra|Accra]], Ghana
*{{flagicon|USA}} Atlanta, United States
*{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Place:Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires]], Argentina
*{{flagicon|BDI}} [[Place:Bujumbura|Bujumbura]], Burundi
*{{flagicon|UAE}} Dubai, United Arab Emirates
*{{flagicon|CHN}} Hangzhou, China
*{{flagicon|USA}} Houston, United States
*{{flagicon|CHN}} Huangshan, China
*{{flagicon|TUR}} İzmir, Turkey
*{{flagicon|USA}} {{wipe|Los Angeles}}, United States
*{{flagicon|SWE}} Malmö, Sweden
*{{flagicon|USA}} Miami-Dade County, United States
*{{flagicon|MEX}} Monterrey, Mexico
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Place:Munich|Munich]], Germany
*{{flagicon|BRA}} Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*{{flagicon|CHN}} Shenzhen, China
*{{flagicon|BUL}} [[Place:Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]], Bulgaria
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Place:Wuhan|Wuhan]], China
{{div col end}}

==== 2022 invasion of Ukraine ====
[[File:City_Hall_lit_in_blue_and_yellow_(3).jpg|thumb|Cape Town City hall lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag as a gesture of solidarity with the country.]]
The City of Cape Town has expressed explicit support for Ukraine during the 2022 invasion of the country by Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cape Town mayor pledges solidarity with Ukraine |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2022-03-03-cape-town-mayor-pledges-solidarity-with-ukraine/ |access-date=3 March 2022 |website=BusinessLIVE |language=en-ZA |archive-date=14 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514135708/https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2022-03-03-cape-town-mayor-pledges-solidarity-with-ukraine/ |url-status=live }}</ref> To show this support the City of Cape Town lit up the Old City Hall in the colours of the Ukrainian flag on 2 March 2022.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Jenni |title=Cape Town City Hall's turn to get lit up for Ukraine |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-town-city-halls-turn-to-get-lit-up-for-ukraine-20220302 |access-date=3 March 2022 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302163933/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-town-city-halls-turn-to-get-lit-up-for-ukraine-20220302 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Plessis |first=Carien du |date=2 March 2022 |title=FOREIGN POLICY: DA lights up City Hall in solidarity with Ukraine, while ANC government abstains from UN vote opposing Russian invasion |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-03-da-lights-up-city-hall-in-solidarity-with-ukraine-while-anc-government-abstains-from-un-vote-opposing-russian-invasion/ |access-date=16 June 2022 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616181040/https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-03-da-lights-up-city-hall-in-solidarity-with-ukraine-while-anc-government-abstains-from-un-vote-opposing-russian-invasion/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This has differentiated the city from the officially neutral foreign policy position taken by the South African national government.<ref name=":0" />

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations|type=ZA|percentages=pagr|cols=2
|1658|360
|1731|3157
|1836|20000
|1875|45000
|1891|67000
|1901|171000
|1936|344223
|1950|618000
|1955|705000
|1960|803000
|1965|945000
|1970|1114000
|1975|1339000
|1980|1609000
|1985|1933000
|1990|2296000
|1996|2565018
|2001|2892243
|2007|3497097
|2011|3740025
|2018|3776001
|2022|3776313
|footnote={{nowrap|Note: Census figures (1996–2011) cover}} figures after 1994 reflect the greater Cape Town metropolitan municipality reflecting post-1994 reforms. '''Sources:''' 1658–1904,<ref name="C1875" /> 1936,<ref name="yearbook1936">{{Cite book |last=Malherbe |first=E.G. |title=Official Year Book of the Union of South Africa and of Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, and Swaziland |publisher=Union of South Africa |year=1939 |volume=20 |location=Pretoria |pages=1044}}</ref> 1950–1990,<ref name="Mongabay">{{cite web |url=http://books.mongabay.com/population_estimates/full/Cape_Town-South_Africa.html |title=Population estimates for Cape Town, South Africa, 1950–2015 |publisher=Mongabay.com |access-date=23 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101061828/http://books.mongabay.com/population_estimates/full/Cape_Town-South_Africa.html |archive-date=1 November 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> 1996,<ref name="CT1996">{{cite web |url=https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/1996census/Documents/Statistics%20South%20Africa%20Census%2096Community%20profile.htm |title=Census 96 : Community Profile |publisher=City of Cape Town |access-date=23 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726110945/https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/1996census/Documents/Statistics%20South%20Africa%20Census%2096Community%20profile.htm |archive-date=26 July 2014}}</ref> 2001, and 2011 Census;<ref name="CT2011">{{cite web |url=https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/2011%20Census/2011_Census_Cape_Town_Profile.pdf |title=City of Cape Town – 2011 Census – Cape Town |publisher=City of Cape Town |access-date=23 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001817/https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/Documents/2011%20Census/2011_Census_Cape_Town_Profile.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref>
2007,<ref name="CT2007">{{cite web |url=https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/CityReports/Documents/2007%20Community%20Survey%20Summary.pdf |title=Demographic and Socio-economic Trends for Cape Town: 1996 to 2007 |publisher=City of Cape Town |date=December 2008 |access-date=23 July 2014 |author=Small, Karen |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193731/http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/stats/CityReports/Documents/2007%20Community%20Survey%20Summary.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> 2018 Census estimates.<ref name="worldpop">{{Cite web |url=http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/cape-town-population/ |title=Cape Town Population 2018 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs) |date=3 July 2018 |website=worldpopulationreview.com |access-date=3 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703133358/http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/cape-town-population/ |archive-date=3 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Cape Town population pyramid.svg|thumb|Cape Town population pyramid in 2011]]
[[File:Cape Town population density map.svg|thumb|Population density in Cape Town]]

According to the South African National Census of 2011, the population of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality{{dash}}an area that includes suburbs and exurbs{{dash}}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.<ref name="wc-muni-report">
{{Cite book |title=Census 2011 Municipal report: Western Cape |publisher=Statistics South Africa |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-621-41459-2 |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/WC_Municipal_Report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151113165154/http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/WC_Municipal_Report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2015 |access-date=30 November 2016}}</ref>
{{rp|54}} Of those residents who were asked about their [[Social:First language|first language]], 35.7% spoke [[Social:Afrikaans|Afrikaans]], 29.8% spoke [[Social:Xhosa language|Xhosa]] and 28.4% spoke English. 24.8% of the population is under the age of 15, while 5.5% is 65 or older.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|64}} The [[Social:Human sex ratio|sex ratio]] is 96, meaning that there are slightly more women than men.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|55}}

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, 29.9% finished Grade 12 but have no higher education, and 16.7% have higher education. Overall, 46.6% have at least a Grade 12 education.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|74}} Of those aged between 5 and 25, 67.8% are attending an educational institution.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|78}} Amongst those aged between 15 and 65 the unemployment rate is 23.7%.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|79}} The average annual household income is [[Finance:South African rand|R]]161,762.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|88}}

The total number of households grew from 653,085 in 1996 to 1,068,572 in 2011, which represents an increase of 63.6%.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|81}} The average number of household members declined from 3,92 in 1996 to 3,50 in 2011.<ref name="Cape Town 2016">{{Cite book |url=https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/City%20research%20reports%20and%20review/16429%20COCT%20State%20of%20Cape%20Town%20Report%202016%20FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118030745/http://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/City%20research%20reports%20and%20review/16429%20COCT%20State%20of%20Cape%20Town%20Report%202016%20FINAL.pdf |archive-date=18 January 2021 |url-status=live |title=State of Cape Town Report 2016 |year=2016}}</ref> Of those households, 78.4% are in formal structures (houses or flats), while 20.5% are in informal structures ([[Engineering:Shanty town|shacks]]).<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|81}} 97.3% of City-supplied households have access to electricity,<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 2019 |title=Progress with housing and power |work=City News |url=https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Forms,%20notices,%20tariffs%20and%20lists/CityNews_49_Central.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005101313/https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Forms,%20notices,%20tariffs%20and%20lists/CityNews_49_Central.pdf |archive-date=5 October 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref> and 94.0% of households use [[Physics:Mains electricity|electricity]] for lighting.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|84}} 87.3% of households have piped water to the dwelling, while 12.0% have piped water through a communal tap.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|85}} 94.9% of households have regular refuse collection service.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|86}} 91.4% of households have a flush toilet or chemical toilet, while 4.5% still use a bucket toilet.<ref name="wc-muni-report" />{{rp|87}} 82.1% of households have a [[Physics:Refrigerator|refrigerator]], 87.3% have a television and 70.1% have a radio. Only 34.0% have a landline telephone, but 91.3% have a cellphone. 37.9% have a computer, and 49.3% have access to the Internet (either through a computer or a cellphone).<ref name="wc-muni-report" />

In 2011 over 70% of cross provincial South African migrants coming into the Western Cape settled in Cape Town; 53.64% of South African migrants into the Western Cape came from the Eastern Cape, the old Cape Colony's former native reserve, and 20.95% came from Gauteng province.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yu |first=Derek |title=South African internal migrants fare better in the job market in two regions |url=http://theconversation.com/south-african-internal-migrants-fare-better-in-the-job-market-in-two-regions-152786 |access-date=5 June 2022 |website=The Conversation |date=20 January 2021 |language=en |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706182455/https://theconversation.com/south-african-internal-migrants-fare-better-in-the-job-market-in-two-regions-152786 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to the 2016 City of Cape Town community survey, there were 4,004,793 people in the City of Cape Town metro. Out of this population, 45.7% identified as Black African, 35.1% identified as Coloured, 16.2% identified as White and 1.6% identified as Asian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2016 Cape Town Community Survey |url=https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Maps%20and%20statistics/2016%20Community%20Survey%20Cape%20Town%20Trends.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516090225/https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/Maps%20and%20statistics/2016%20Community%20Survey%20Cape%20Town%20Trends.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2021}}</ref>

During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, local media reported that increasing numbers of wealthy and middle-class South Africans have started moving from inland areas to coastal regions of the country, most notably Cape Town, in a phenomenon referred to as "''semigration''."<ref name="Staff Writer">{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |title=More Gauteng residents are semigrating to the Western Cape – here's where they are moving to |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/property/549054/more-gauteng-residents-are-semigrating-to-the-western-cape-heres-where-they-are-moving-to/ |access-date=23 January 2022 |language=en-US |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913201803/https://businesstech.co.za/news/property/549054/more-gauteng-residents-are-semigrating-to-the-western-cape-heres-where-they-are-moving-to/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Joburg is in decline, and its professionals are moving – many to Cape Town' |url=https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/419585/johannesburg-is-in-decline-and-its-professionals-are-moving-many-to-cape-town |access-date=23 January 2022 |website=CapeTalk |language=en-ZA |archive-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601174159/https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/419585/johannesburg-is-in-decline-and-its-professionals-are-moving-many-to-cape-town |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Buthelezi |first=Londiwe |title='City of Gold' sparkles no more – Joburg has become property sector's weakest link |url=https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/south-africa/city-of-gold-sparkles-no-more-joburg-has-become-property-sectors-weakest-link-20210622 |access-date=23 January 2022 |website=Fin24 |language=en-US |archive-date=8 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708081157/https://www.news24.com//fin24/economy/south-africa/city-of-gold-sparkles-no-more-joburg-has-become-property-sectors-weakest-link-20210622 |url-status=live }}</ref> Declining municipal services in the rest of the country and the South African energy crisis are other cited reasons for semigration.<ref>{{Citation |title=Alan Winde on booming Western Cape semigration - up another 20% this year to over 120k |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX24kOPim4I |publication-date=8 December 2022 |publisher=Biznews |language=en |access-date=8 December 2022 |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208123801/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX24kOPim4I&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter |url-status=live }}</ref>

The city's population is expected to grow by an additional 400,000 residents between 2020 and 2025 with 76% of those new residents falling into the low-income bracket earning less than {{Currency|13000|ZAR}} a month.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=31 May 2022 |title=Cape Town expects a population boom over the next five years – with changes planned for electricity supply |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/property/591828/cape-town-expects-a-population-boom-over-the-next-five-years-with-changes-planned-for-electricity-supply/ |access-date=4 June 2022 |website=Businesstech.co.za |language=en-ZA |archive-date=17 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617202726/https://businesstech.co.za/news/property/591828/cape-town-expects-a-population-boom-over-the-next-five-years-with-changes-planned-for-electricity-supply/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Religion===
[[File:00000-St Georges Cathedral-Cape Town-s.jpg|thumb|St George's Anglican Cathedral is one of the largest and oldest religious sites in the city.]]
In the 2015 General Household Survey 82.3% of respondents self identified as [[Religion:Christians|Christian]], 8% as [[Religion:Muslims|Muslim]], 3.8% as following a traditional African religion and 3.1% as "nothing in particular."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Farrar |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Falake |first2=Khanyisane A. |last3=Mebaley |first3=Adriel |last4=Moya |first4=Mandisi D. |last5=Rudolph |first5=Ivor I. |date=2019 |title=A Mall Intercept Survey on Religion and Worldview in the Cape Flats of Cape Town, South Africa |journal=Journal for the Study of Religion |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.17159/2413-3027/2019/v32n1a3 |doi-broken-date=23 January 2024 |s2cid=202175851 |issn=1011-7601 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Most places of worship in the city are Christian churches and cathedrals: Zion Christian Church, Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, Assemblies of God, Baptist Union of Southern Africa (Baptist World Alliance), Methodist Church of Southern Africa (World Methodist Council), Anglican Church of Southern Africa (Anglican Communion), Presbyterian Church of Africa (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town (Catholic Church),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa |title=South Africa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629053318/https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa |edition=Online |archive-date=29 June 2019 |access-date=7 July 2019}}</ref> the Orthodox Archbishopric of Good Hope (Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St George<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.goarch.co.za/our-churches/cape-town/ |title=Greek Orthodox Archbishopric website |access-date=26 June 2022 |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125070624/http://www.goarch.co.za/our-churches/cape-town/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://africasouth.churchofjesuschrist.org/ |title=Africa South Area |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=16 May 2022 |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519182810/https://africasouth.churchofjesuschrist.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The LDS Church announced 4 April 2021<ref>{{cite web |url=https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/cape-town-south-africa-temple/ |title=Cape Town South Africa Temple |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=16 May 2022 |archive-date=25 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625133527/https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/cape-town-south-africa-temple/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the construction of a temple with groundbreaking dates yet to be announced.

[[Religion:Islam|Islam]] is the city's second largest religion with a long history in Cape Town,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/history-muslims-south-africa-1652-1699-ebrahim-mahomed-mahida |title=History of Muslims in South Africa: 1652 – 1699 by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida |last=tinashe |date=13 January 2012 |website=South African History Online |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110211316/http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/history-muslims-south-africa-1652-1699-ebrahim-mahomed-mahida |archive-date=10 January 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> resulting in a number of mosques and other Muslim religious sites spread across the city,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://capetownmuslims.co.za/directory/directory-category/mosques/ |title=Mosques – Cape Town Muslims |website=capetownmuslims.co.za |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121193724/http://capetownmuslims.co.za/directory/directory-category/mosques/ |archive-date=21 January 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> such as the Auwal Mosque, South Africa's first mosque.

Cape Town's significant Jewish population supports a number of synagogues most notably the historic Gardens Shul, the oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa.<ref name=forward>[https://forward.com/news/175662/cape-towns-jewish-history-on-display/ Cape Town’s Jewish History on Display] ''Forward''. 29 April 2013</ref> Marais Road Shul in the city's Jewish hub, Sea Point, is the largest Jewish congregation in South Africa.<ref>[https://www.jta.org/archive/mandela-visits-cape-town-shul-and-reassures-jews-on-their-future Mandela Visits Cape Town Shul and Reassures Jews on Their Future] Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 10 May 1994</ref> Temple Israel (Cape Town Progressive Jewish Congregation) also has three temples in the city.<ref>[http://saupj.org.za/congregations/ Congregations] South African Union for Progressive Judaism. Accessed on 6 December 2019</ref> There is also a [[Organization:Chabad|Chabad]] centre in Sea Point and a Chabad on Campus at the University of Cape Town, catering to Jewish students.<ref>[https://cjc.org.za/2015/12/01/a-first-for-cape-town/ A first for Cape Town] ''Cape Jewish Chronicle''. 1 December 2015</ref>

Other religious sites in the city include Hindu, [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhist]] and Baháʼí temples.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

===Crime===
[[File:Smash and Grab Hot Spot, Retreat (South Africa).jpg|thumb|Smash and grab Hot Spot in Retreat, Road M5]]
In recent years,{{when|date=June 2022}} the city has struggled with drugs, a surge in violent [[Medicine:Drug-related crime|drug-related crime]] and more recently gang violence. In the Cape Flats alone, there were approximately 100,000 people in over 130 different gangs in 2018. While there are some alliances, this multitude and division is also cause for conflict between groups.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2018/10/06/why-cape-towns-murder-rate-is-rising |title=Why Cape Town's murder rate is rising |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009013244/https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2018/10/06/why-cape-towns-murder-rate-is-rising |archive-date=9 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><!--, which has given the city a reputation for having one of the highest homicide rates in the world. --> At the same time, the economy has grown due to the boom in the tourism and the real estate industries.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikir7xF70_4C&pg=PA159 |chapter=Caps off to the Western Cape |editor1-last=Jeffreys |editor1-first=Andrew |publisher=Oxford Business Group |isbn=978-1-9023-3979-5 |title=The Report: South Africa 2008 |page=159 |access-date=23 July 2019 |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427000105/https://books.google.com/books?id=ikir7xF70_4C&pg=PA159 |url-status=live}}</ref> Since July 2019 widespread violent crime in poorer gang dominated areas of greater Cape Town has resulted in an ongoing military presence in these neighbourhoods.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48962265 "South Africa Deploys Army to Gang-Hit Cape Town"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909084333/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48962265 |date=9 September 2019 }} (12 July 2019). ''BBC News''. Retrieved 17 April 2020.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://time.com/5684069/prince-harry-meghan-begin-africa-tour/ |title=Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Baby Archie Begin First Official Tour as a Royal Family in Cape Town |access-date=24 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923170009/https://time.com/5684069/prince-harry-meghan-begin-africa-tour/ |archive-date=23 September 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Cape Town had the highest murder rate among large South African cities at 77 murders per 100,000 people in the period April 2018 to March 2019, with 3157 murders mostly occurring in poor townships created under the apartheid regime.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://issafrica.org/crimehub/maps/municipal-districts |title=Municipal and district map |website=issafrica.org |access-date=28 November 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128091727/https://issafrica.org/crimehub/maps/municipal-districts |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |website=iol.co.za |access-date=20 March 2021 |title=Cape Town has SA's highest murder rate |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/cape-town-has-sas-highest-murder-rate-21018353 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426201438/https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/cape-town-has-sas-highest-murder-rate-21018353 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2022 the Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice ranked Cape Town as one of the 50 most violent cities in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCain |first=Nicole |title=Cape Town ranks top in SA as one of 50 most violent cities in the world |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-town-ranks-top-in-sa-as-one-of-50-most-violent-cities-in-the-world-20220326 |access-date=7 April 2022 |website=News24 |language=en-US |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401051723/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-town-ranks-top-in-sa-as-one-of-50-most-violent-cities-in-the-world-20220326 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Economy==
{| class="toc" style="float:right; font-size:90%; text-align:center; margin:1em;"
|-
| colspan="6" style="background:#afa;"|'''Top publicly traded companies<br />in the Cape Town/Stellenbosch<br /> region for 2021'''<br />(ranked by market capitalisation)<br />''with Metropolitan and JSE ranks''
|- style="background:#ccc;"
|| '''Metro'''|||| style="background:#ccc;"|'''corporation'''|||| style="background:#ccc;"|'''JSE'''
|-
| 1|||| |Naspers||||4
|-
| 2|||||Capitec|||||14
|-
| 3|||| |Sanlam||||20
|-
| 4|||||Shoprite||||24
|-
|5||||Pepkor||||30
|-
|6||||Clicks||||32
|-
|7|||| |Woolworths||||35
|-
|8|||||[[Company:Remgro|Remgro]]||||37
|-
|colspan="5"|'''Source:''' ''JSE top 40''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sashares.co.za/jse-top-40/#gs.adg1tc |title=JSE top 40 |work=SAshares.co.za |access-date=1 September 2021 |archive-date=28 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228070902/https://sashares.co.za/jse-top-40/#gs.adg1tc |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}
The city is {{wipe|South Africa}}'s second main economic centre and [[Earth:Africa|Africa]]'s third main economic hub city. It serves as the regional manufacturing centre in the Western Cape. In 2019 the city's [[Finance:Gross metropolitan product|GMP]] of R489 billion<ref name="Cape Town 2020">{{Cite web |date=June 2021 |title=State of Cape Town Report 2020 |url=https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/City%20research%20reports%20and%20review/State_of_Cape_Town_Report_2020.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222152234/https://resource.capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/City%20research%20reports%20and%20review/State_of_Cape_Town_Report_2020.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=22 February 2022 |website=City of Cape Town |language=en}}</ref> (US$33.04 billion)<ref name="SARS 2019">{{Cite web |quote=US$-ZAR exchange rate for 1 July 2019 |title=Sars Rates Of Exchange |url=https://tools.sars.gov.za/rex/Rates/MultipleDefault.aspx |access-date=22 February 2022 |website=tools.sars.gov.za |archive-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222105417/https://tools.sars.gov.za/rex/Rates/MultipleDefault.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> represented 71.1% of the Western Cape's total [[Finance:Gross regional domestic product|GRP]] and 9.6% of South Africa's total GDP;<ref name="Cape Town 2020" /> the city also accounted for 11.1%<ref name="Cape Town 2020" /> of all employed people in the country and had a citywide GDP per capita of R111,364<ref name="Cape Town 2020" /> (US$7,524).<ref name="SARS 2019" /> Since the global financial crisis of 2007 the city's economic growth rate has mirrored South Africa's decline in growth whilst the population growth rate for the city has remained steady at around 2% a year.<ref name="Cape Town 2020" /> Around 80% of the city's economic activity is generated by the [[Finance:Tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary sector]] of the economy with the finance, retail, real-estate, food and beverage industries being the four largest contributors to the city's economic growth rate.<ref name="Cape Town 2020" />

In 2008 the city was named as the most entrepreneurial city in South Africa, with the percentage of Capetonians pursuing business opportunities almost three times higher than the national average. Those aged between 18 and 64 were 190% more likely to pursue new business, whilst in Johannesburg, the same demographic group was only 60% more likely than the national average to pursue a new business.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 September 2008 |title=Cape Town breeds entrepreneurs: Fin24: Business |url=http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-1786_2389511 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090126202204/http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-1786_2389511 |archive-date=26 January 2009 |access-date=1 October 2011 |publisher=Fin24}}</ref>

With the highest number of successful [[Engineering:Information technology|information technology]] companies in Africa, Cape Town is an important centre for the industry on the continent.<ref name="IT leads">{{cite web |date=27 March 2007 |title=Cape Town Leads In Information Technology |url=http://www.westerncape.gov.za/eng/pubs/news/2007/mar/154622 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729151102/http://www.westerncape.gov.za/eng/pubs/news/2007/mar/154622 |archive-date=29 July 2012 |access-date=24 February 2014}}</ref> This includes an increasing number of companies in the space industry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oni |first=David |date=15 June 2021 |title=Cape Town Startups Stake their Claim in the Small Satellite Industry |url=https://africanews.space/cape-town-startups-stake-their-claim-in-the-small-satellite-industry/ |access-date=4 August 2022 |website=Space in Africa |language=en-US |archive-date=27 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827132445/https://africanews.space/cape-town-startups-stake-their-claim-in-the-small-satellite-industry/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Growing at an annual rate of 8.5% and an estimated worth of R77&nbsp;billion in 2010, nationwide the high tech industry in Cape Town is becoming increasingly important to the city's economy.<ref name="IT leads" /> A number of entrepreneurship initiatives and universities hosting technology startups such as [[Company:Jumo|Jumo]], Yoco, Aerobotics, Luno, Rain telecommunication and The Sun Exchange are located in the city.<ref>{{cite web |date=28 December 2018 |title=Eight SA startups to look out for in 2019 |url=https://ventureburn.com/2018/12/eight-sa-startups-to-watch-in-2019/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829172645/https://ventureburn.com/2018/12/eight-sa-startups-to-watch-in-2019/ |archive-date=29 August 2019 |access-date=19 January 2020 |website=Venture Burn}}</ref>
[[File:2018-07-20 View from Wikicite meetup at Wikimania (6).jpg|thumb|Skyscrapers in City Bowl]]

The city has the largest film industry in the [[Earth:Southern Hemisphere|Southern Hemisphere]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cape Town Film Industry {{!}} IE3 Global |url=https://ie3global.org/internship/cape-town-film-industry/ |access-date=31 March 2022 |language=en |archive-date=19 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119070259/https://ie3global.org/internship/cape-town-film-industry/ |url-status=live }}</ref> generating R5 billion (US$476.19 million) in revenue and providing an estimated 6,058 direct and 2,502 indirect jobs in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asad and Searching for Sugarman Have Done Us Proud |url=https://www.westerncape.gov.za/news/asad-and-searching-sugarman-have-done-us-proud |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=Western Cape Government |language=en |archive-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627221007/https://www.westerncape.gov.za/news/asad-and-searching-sugarman-have-done-us-proud |url-status=live }}</ref> Much of the industry is based out of the Cape Town Film Studios.

=== Major companies ===
[[File:Naspers Media24 building.jpg|thumb|The Naspers Centre is the headquarters of Naspers, the largest listed company headquartered in Cape Town.]]
Most companies headquartered in the city are insurance companies, retail groups, publishers, design houses, fashion designers, shipping companies, petrochemical companies, architects and advertising agencies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Economic Development |url=https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/ehd/Pages/EconomicStatistics.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116103224/https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/ehd/Pages/EconomicStatistics.aspx |archive-date=16 January 2014 |access-date=15 January 2014 |work=City of Cape Town: Economic Statistics |publisher=City of Cape Town}}</ref> Some of the most notable companies headquartered in the city are food and fashion retailer Woolworths,<ref>{{cite web |title=Media Contact |url=http://www.woolworthsholdings.co.za/media/media_contact.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102160839/http://www.woolworthsholdings.co.za/media/media_contact.asp |archive-date=2 January 2014 |access-date=15 January 2014 |work=Woolworths |publisher=Woolworths Holdings Limited}}</ref> supermarket chain Pick n Pay Stores and Shoprite,<ref>{{cite web |last=EMIS |title=Pick n Pay Holdings Ltd |url=http://www.securities.com/Public/company-profile/ZA/PICK_N_PAY_HOLDINGS_LIMITED_en_2038423.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417092442/http://www.securities.com/Public/company-profile/ZA/Pick_n_Pay_Holdings_Limited_en_2038423.html |archive-date=17 April 2014 |access-date=15 January 2014 |work=Emerging Markets Information Service |publisher=EMIS}},</ref> New Clicks Holdings Limited, fashion retailer Foschini Group,<ref>{{cite web |title=Contact Us |url=http://www.foschini.co.za/foschini/content/en/foschini-contact-us |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116113904/http://www.foschini.co.za/foschini/content/en/foschini-contact-us |archive-date=16 January 2014 |access-date=15 January 2014 |work=Foshini Group |publisher=Foschini}}</ref> internet service provider MWEB, Mediclinic International, eTV, multinational mass media giant Naspers, and financial services giant Sanlam<ref>{{cite web |title=Who We Are |url=http://www.sanlam.co.za/wps/wcm/connect/sanlam_en/sanlam/about+sanlam/who+we+are |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116114758/http://www.sanlam.co.za/wps/wcm/connect/sanlam_en/sanlam/about%2Bsanlam/who%2Bwe%2Bare |archive-date=16 January 2014 |access-date=15 January 2014 |work=Sanlam }}</ref> and Old Mutual Park.<ref name="OM_history">{{cite web |title=Old Mutual History |publisher=Oldmutual.com |access-date=18 April 2011 |url=https://www.oldmutual.com/about/175-birthday/ |archive-date=17 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517103515/https://www.oldmutual.com/about/175-birthday/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other notable companies include Belron, Ceres Fruit Juices, Coronation Fund Managers, Vida e Caffè, Capitec Bank. The city is a manufacturing base for several multinational companies including, Johnson & Johnson, [[Company:GlaxoSmithKline|GlaxoSmithKline]], Levi Strauss & Co., Adidas, Bokomo Foods, Yoco and Nampak.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} [[Company:Amazon Web Services|Amazon Web Services]] maintains one of its largest facilities in the world in Cape Town with the city serving as the Africa headquarters for its parent company [[Company:Amazon|Amazon]].<ref>{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |title=Amazon to set up South African headquarters in R4 billion Cape Town development |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/484385/amazon-to-set-up-south-african-headquarters-in-r4-billion-cape-town-development/ |access-date=1 September 2021 |language=en-US |archive-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420082022/https://businesstech.co.za/news/cloud-hosting/484385/amazon-to-set-up-south-african-headquarters-in-r4-billion-cape-town-development/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Amazon to set up African headquarters in Cape Town |url=https://www.iol.co.za/technology/software-and-internet/amazon-to-set-up-african-headquarters-in-cape-town-ccb9564b-cbe6-4f56-9c53-809ddb5dfcab |access-date=1 September 2021 |website=iol.co.za |language=en |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421133659/https://www.iol.co.za/technology/software-and-internet/amazon-to-set-up-african-headquarters-in-cape-town-ccb9564b-cbe6-4f56-9c53-809ddb5dfcab |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Inequality ===
The city of Cape Town's [[Finance:Gini coefficient|Gini coefficient]] of 0.58<ref>{{Cite web |last=Western Cape Government |date=2017 |title=SEP Socio-Economic Profile: City of Cape Town |url=https://www.westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/treasury/Documents/Socio-economic-profiles/2017/city_of_cape_town_2017_socio-economic_profile_sep-lg_-_26_january_2018.pdf |website=westerncape.gov.za |access-date=16 February 2019 |archive-date=16 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216153612/https://www.westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/treasury/Documents/Socio-economic-profiles/2017/city_of_cape_town_2017_socio-economic_profile_sep-lg_-_26_january_2018.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> is lower than South Africa's Gini coefficient of 0.7 making it more equal than the rest of the country or any other major South Africa city although still highly unequal by international standards.<ref name="IOL inequality">{{cite web |date=4 December 2012 |title=Cape Town least unequal SA city – Politics &#124; IOL News |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/cape-town-least-unequal-sa-city-1.1435199 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112205522/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/cape-town-least-unequal-sa-city-1.1435199#.UjdA9KwazCR |archive-date=12 January 2014 |access-date=24 February 2014 |publisher=IOL.co.za}}</ref><ref name="Geni2000">{{cite web |date=August 2005 |title=A profile of the Western Cape province: Demographics, poverty, inequality and unemployment |url=http://www.elsenburg.com/provide/documents/BP2005_1_1%20Demographics%20WC.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624163440/http://elsenburg.com/provide/documents/BP2005_1_1%20Demographics%20WC.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2011 |access-date=30 January 2012 |publisher=Elsenburg}}</ref> Between 2001 and 2010 the city's Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality, improved by dropping from 0.59 in 2007 to 0.57 in 2010<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011 |title=Regional Development Profile – City of Cape Town |url=https://www.westerncape.gov.za/text/2011/12/dc0_city_of_cape_town_15_dec_2011_(mb).pdf |access-date=4 June 2022 |website=Western Cape Government |page=23 |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616203157/https://www.westerncape.gov.za/Text/2011/12/dc0_city_of_cape_town_15_dec_2011_(mb).pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> only to increase to 0.58 by 2017.<ref name="Socio-economic profile">{{Cite web |last=Western Cape Government |date=2017 |title=SEP Socio-Economic Profile: City of Cape Town |url=https://www.westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/treasury/Documents/Socio-economic-profiles/2017/city_of_cape_town_2017_socio-economic_profile_sep-lg_-_26_january_2018.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216153612/https://www.westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/treasury/Documents/Socio-economic-profiles/2017/city_of_cape_town_2017_socio-economic_profile_sep-lg_-_26_january_2018.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2019 |website=westerncape.gov.za}}</ref>

===Tourism===
[[File:Clifton Beachs.jpg|thumb|Clifton Beach is one of Cape Town's most famous beaches]]
[[File:Ciudad_del_Cabo,_Kirstenbosch_NBG_29.jpg|thumb|Table Mountain from the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden]]
[[File:Boulders Beach 2019 2.jpg|thumb|African penguins at Boulders Penguin Colony]]

The Western Cape is a highly important tourist region in South Africa; the tourism industry accounts for 9.8% of the GDP of the province and employs 9.6% of the province's workforce. In 2010, over 1.5&nbsp;million international tourists visited the area.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.capetownroutesunlimited.org/ctru/action/media/downloadFile?media_fileid=18219 |title=Annual Report 2010 |publisher=Cape Town Routes Unlimited |isbn=0-621-35496-1 |format=PDF |access-date=3 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915071746/http://www.capetownroutesunlimited.org/ctru/action/media/downloadFile?media_fileid=18219 |archive-date=15 September 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cape Town is not only a popular international tourist destination in {{wipe|South Africa}}, but [[Earth:Africa|Africa]] as a whole. This is due to its mild climate, natural setting, and well-developed infrastructure. The city has several well-known natural features that attract tourists, most notably Table Mountain,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecape.org/ |title=Table Mountain Aerial Cableway |access-date=21 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218093401/http://thecape.org/ |archive-date=18 December 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> which forms a large part of the Table Mountain National Park and is the back end of the City Bowl. Reaching the top of the mountain can be achieved either by hiking up, or by taking the Table Mountain Cableway. Cape Point is the dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capepoint.co.za |title=Cape Point |publisher=Cape Point |access-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928071905/http://www.capepoint.co.za/ |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many tourists also drive along Chapman's Peak Drive, a narrow road that links Noordhoek with Hout Bay, for the views of the Atlantic Ocean and nearby mountains. It is possible to either drive or hike up [[Earth:Signal Hill (Cape Town)|Signal Hill]] for closer views of the City Bowl and Table Mountain.<ref>"[https://www.vibescout.com/za/post/botanical-gardens South Africa National Botanical Gardens] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006211524/https://www.vibescout.com/za/post/botanical-gardens |date=6 October 2017}}" .Vibescout.com. Retrieved 4 October 2017</ref>

Many tourists also visit Cape Town's beaches, which are popular with local residents.<ref name="CTbeaches">{{cite web |url=http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/cape-town/places.aspx?tid=2 |title=Beaches, Cape Town, South Africa |publisher=Safarinow.com |access-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903214936/http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/cape-town/places.aspx?tid=2 |archive-date=3 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is possible to visit several different beaches in the same day, each with a different setting and atmosphere.
Both coasts are popular, although the beaches in affluent Clifton and elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast are better developed with restaurants and cafés, with a strip of restaurants and bars accessible to the beach at Camps Bay. The Atlantic seaboard, known as Cape Town's Riviera, is regarded as one of the most scenic routes in South Africa, along the slopes of the Twelve Apostles to the boulders and white sand beaches of Llandudno, with the route ending in Hout Bay, a diverse suburb with a fishing and recreational boating harbour near a small island with a breeding colony of African fur seals. This suburb is also accessible by road from the Constantia valley over the mountains to the northeast, and via the picturesque Chapman's Peak drive from the residential suburb Noordhoek in the Fish Hoek valley to the south-east.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.excessodebagagem.com.br/o-que-fazer-em-cape-town-principais-pontos-turisticos/ |title=Cape Town: Chapman's Peak Drive |access-date=26 July 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727061636/https://www.excessodebagagem.com.br/o-que-fazer-em-cape-town-principais-pontos-turisticos/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Boulders Beach near Simon's Town is known for its colony of [[Biology:African penguin|African penguin]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.simonstown.com/tourism/penguins/penguins.htm |title=The African Penguin |publisher=Simonstown.com |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102120851/http://simonstown.com/tourism/penguins/penguins.htm |archive-date=2 November 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The city has several notable cultural attractions. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the [[Engineering:Dock (maritime)|docks]] of the Port of Cape Town, is the city's most visited tourist attraction. It is also one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops as well as the Two Oceans Aquarium.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waterfront.co.za/ |title=V&A Waterfront |publisher=Waterfront.co.za |access-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109225059/http://www.waterfront.co.za/ |archive-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Sinclair 2011" >{{cite web |author=Ingrid Sinclair |url=http://www.aquarium.co.za |title=Two Oceans Aquarium Cape Town, South Africa |publisher=Aquarium.co.za |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928234331/http://www.aquarium.co.za/ |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> The V&A also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which [[Engineering:Ferry|ferries]] depart for Robben Island.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robben-island.org.za |title=Robben Island Museum |publisher=Robben-island.org.za |date=2 May 2011 |access-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004093643/http://info@robben-island.org.za/ |archive-date=4 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is possible to take a ferry from the V&A to Hout Bay, Simon's Town and the Cape fur seal colonies on Seal and Duiker Islands. Several companies offer tours of the Cape Flats, a region of mostly Coloured & Black townships.<ref>[http://www.capetownmagazine.com/todonight/Western-Cape/Townships/Township-BaBs-Discover-what-true-African-hospitality-is-all-about~11] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210212638/http://www.capetownmagazine.com/todonight/Western-Cape/Townships/Township-BaBs-Discover-what-true-African-hospitality-is-all-about~11|date=10 February 2010}}</ref>

Within the metropolitan area, the most popular areas for visitors to stay include Camps Bay, Sea Point, the V&A Waterfront, the City Bowl, Hout Bay, Constantia, Rondebosch, Newlands, and Somerset West.<ref name="CTtourismstats">{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown-direct.com/article/cape-town-tourism-statistics |title=Cape Town Tourism Statistics |publisher=Cape Town Direct |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107151526/http://www.capetown-direct.com/article/cape-town-tourism-statistics |archive-date=7 November 2006}}</ref> In November 2013, Cape Town was voted the best global city in ''The Daily Telegraph's'' annual Travel Awards.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10476790/Telegraph-Travel-Awards-2013-Favourite-cities.html |title=Telegraph Travel Awards 2013: Favourite cities |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=27 November 2013 |access-date=4 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202182330/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/10476790/Telegraph-Travel-Awards-2013-Favourite-cities.html |archive-date=2 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cape Town offers tourists a range of air, land and sea-based adventure activities, including helicopter rides, [[Engineering:Paragliding|paragliding]] and skydiving, snorkelling and scuba diving, boat trips, game-fishing, hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing. Surfing is popular and the city hosts the Red Bull Big Wave Africa surfing competition every year, and there is some local and international recreational scuba tourism.<ref>[https://www.capetown.travel/cape-town-adventure/ Cape Town Tourism capetown.travel] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226144422/https://www.capetown.travel/cape-town-adventure/ |date=26 December 2019 }}, retrieved 26 December 2019</ref>

The City of Cape Town works closely with Cape Town Tourism to promote the city both locally and internationally. The primary focus of Cape Town Tourism is to represent Cape Town as a tourist destination.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.citysightseeing.co.za/blog/entry/tenant-of-the-month-cape-town-tourism |title=Tenant of the month: Cape Town Tourism |website=citysightseeing.co.za |access-date=9 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604161411/https://www.citysightseeing.co.za/blog/entry/tenant-of-the-month-cape-town-tourism |archive-date=4 June 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Fin24">{{Cite web |url=http://www.fin24.com/Companies/TravelAndLeisure/CT-Tourism-celebrates-tenth-birthday-20141103 |title=CT Tourism celebrates tenth birthday |website=Fin24 |access-date=9 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604100137/http://www.fin24.com/Companies/TravelAndLeisure/CT-Tourism-celebrates-tenth-birthday-20141103 |archive-date=4 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cape Town Tourism receives a portion of its funding from the City of Cape Town while the remainder is made up of membership fees and own-generated funds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.news24.com/Travel/South-Africa/Cape-Town-Tourism-dealt-budget-cut-blow-20121019 |title=Cape Town Tourism dealt budget cut blow |website=News24 |access-date=9 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220064600/http://www.news24.com/Travel/South-Africa/Cape-Town-Tourism-dealt-budget-cut-blow-20121019 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Tristan da Cunha government owns and operates a lodging facility in Cape Town which charges discounted rates to Tristan da Cunha residents and non-resident natives.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tristandc.com/visitsaccommodation.php |title=Tristan da Cunha Accommodation |publisher=Tristan da Cunha Government & Tristan da Cunha Association |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=21 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221135726/https://www.tristandc.com/visitsaccommodation.php |url-status=live}}</ref> Cape Town's transport system links it to the rest of South Africa; it serves as the gateway to other destinations within the province. The Cape Winelands and in particular the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for sightseeing and [[Engineering:Wine tasting|wine tasting]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismcapewinelands.co.za/ |title=Cape Winelands |publisher=Tourismcapewinelands.co.za |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040924231340/http://www.tourismcapewinelands.co.za/ |archive-date=24 September 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.winelands.co.za |title=The Western Cape wine lands |publisher=Winelands.co.za |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214131214/http://www.winelands.co.za/ |archive-date=14 February 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Infrastructure and services ==
Most goods are handled through the Port of Cape Town or Cape Town International Airport. Most major shipbuilding companies have offices in Cape Town.<ref>{{cite web |title=South African Boatbuilders Business Council |url=http://www.southafricanboatbuilders.co.za |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106214500/http://www.southafricanboatbuilders.co.za/ |archive-date=6 January 2017 |access-date=24 February 2014 |publisher=Southafricanboatbuilders.co.za}}</ref> The province is also a centre of energy development for the country, with the existing Koeberg nuclear power station providing energy for the Western Cape's needs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Koeberg Power Station |url=http://www.eskom.co.za/Whatweredoing/ElectricityGeneration/KoebergNuclearPowerStation/Pages/Koeberg_Power_Station.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613123845/http://www.eskom.co.za/Whatweredoing/ElectricityGeneration/KoebergNuclearPowerStation/Pages/Koeberg_Power_Station.aspx |archive-date=13 June 2020 |access-date=17 June 2020 |website=eskom.co.za}}</ref>

Greater Cape Town has four major commercial nodes, with Cape Town Central Business District containing the majority of job opportunities and office space.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} Century City, the Bellville/Tygervalley strip and Claremont commercial nodes are well established and contain many offices and corporate headquarters.

===Health===
[[File:Groote_Schuur_Hospital,_Observatory,_Cape_Town,_Western_Cape._05.JPG|thumb|Groote Schuur Hospital]]
*The Alexandra Hospital is a specialist mental health care hospital in Cape Town, it provides care for complex mental health issues and intellectual disability.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexandra Hospital |url=https://www.westerncape.gov.za/facility/alexandra-hospital |publisher=Western Cape Government |access-date=4 January 2016 |archive-date=5 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105085248/https://www.westerncape.gov.za/facility/alexandra-hospital |url-status=live }}</ref>
*Groote Schuur Hospital is a large, government-funded, teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak. It was founded in 1938 and is famous for being the institution where the first human-to-human heart transplant took place. Groote Schuur is the chief academic hospital of the University of Cape Town's medical school, providing tertiary care and instruction in all the major branches of medicine. The hospital underwent major extension in 1984 when two new wings were added.
*The Hottentots Holland Hospital, also known as Helderberg Hospital, is a district hospital for the Helderberg basin located in Somerset West, and also serves surrounding areas in the Overberg district.
*Vergelegen Medi-clinic – Private hospital in Somerset West

===Education===
[[File:UCT Upper Campus landscape view.jpg|thumb|left|University of Cape Town with the Devil's Peak]]
[[Image:CPUT Cape Town Campus.jpg|thumb|left|The Cape Town Campus of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, with Table Mountain in the background]]

Public primary and secondary schools in Cape Town are run by the Western Cape Education Department. This provincial department is divided into seven districts; four of these are "Metropole" districts – Metropole Central, North, South, and East – which cover various areas of the metropolis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wced.wcape.gov.za/operations/emdc_links.html |title=Education Management and Development Centres (EMDCs) |access-date=10 April 2008 |publisher=Western Cape Education Department |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409162520/http://wced.wcape.gov.za/operations/emdc_links.html |archive-date=9 April 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> There are also many private schools, both religious and secular. Cape Town has a well-developed higher system of public universities. Cape Town is served by three public universities: the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Stellenbosch University, while not based in the metropolitan area itself, has its main campus and administrative section 50&nbsp;kilometres from the City Bowl and has additional campuses, such as the Tygerberg Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Bellville Business Park, north-west of the city in the town of Bellville.

Both the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University are leading universities in South Africa. This is due in large part to substantial financial contributions made to these institutions by both the public and private sector. UCT is an English-language tuition institution. It has over 21,000 students and has an MBA programme that was ranked 51st by the Financial Times in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/econstats/pdf/compete.zip |title=Competitiveness factors |publisher=City of Cape Town |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927091123/http://www.capetown.gov.za/econstats/pdf/compete.zip |archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref> It is also the top-ranked university in Africa, being the only African university to make the world's Top 200 university list at number 146.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topuniversities.com/university/98/university-of-cape-town |title=University of cape town |publisher=Top Universities |date=12 November 2009 |access-date=2 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220022353/http://www.topuniversities.com/university/98/university-of-cape-town |archive-date=20 February 2010}}</ref> Since the African National Congress has become the country's ruling party, some restructuring of Western Cape universities has taken place and as such, traditionally non-white universities have seen increased financing, which has evidently benefitted the University of the Western Cape.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.capetown.at/heritage/society/index.htm |title=Cape Town Society |publisher=CapeConnected |access-date=14 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928033036/http://www.capetown.at/heritage/society/index.htm |archive-date=28 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dispatch.co.za/1998/01/20/PAGE7.HTM |title=Education Cosas critical of education funding |publisher=Dispatch Online |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224155137/http://www.dispatch.co.za/1998/01/20/PAGE7.HTM |archive-date=24 December 2007}}</ref>

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology was formed on 1 January 2005, when two separate institutions – Cape Technikon and Peninsula Technikon – were merged. The new university offers education primarily in English, although one may take courses in any of South Africa's official languages. The institution generally awards the National Diploma. Students from the universities and high schools are involved in the South African SEDS, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. This is the South African SEDS, and there are many SEDS branches in other countries, preparing enthusiastic students and young professionals for the growing Space industry.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} As well as the Universities, there are also several colleges in and around Cape Town. Including the College of Cape Town, False Bay College and Northlink College. Many students use NSFAS funding to help pay for tertiary education at these TVET colleges.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://allbursaries.co.za/government-bursaries-south-africa/nsfas-everything-need-know |title=NSFAS Funding |publisher=AllBursaries |date=24 June 2022 |access-date=24 June 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122152416/https://allbursaries.co.za/government-bursaries-south-africa/nsfas-everything-need-know/}}</ref> Cape Town has also become a popular study abroad destination for many international college students. Many study abroad providers offer semester, summer, short-term, and internship programs in partnership with Cape Town universities as a chance for international students to gain intercultural understanding.

===Water supply===
The '''Western Cape Water Supply System''' (WCWSS) is a complex water supply system in the Western Cape region of {{wipe|South Africa}}, comprising an inter-linked system of six main dams, pipelines, tunnels and distribution networks, and a number of minor dams, some owned and operated by the Department of Water and Sanitation and some by the City of Cape Town.<ref name="Kasrils">[http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2003/03041609461001.htm Address by Mr Ronnie Kasrils, MP, minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, at the Berg Water Project signing ceremony on 15 April 2003, in Cape Town], accessed on 11 December 2009</ref>

====Water crisis of 2017 to 2018====
[[File:Water_Crisis.jpg|thumb|upright|Water crisis warning in Cape Town in 2018]]
The Cape Town water crisis of 2017 to 2018 was a period of severe water shortage in the Western Cape region, most notably affecting the City of Cape Town. While dam water levels had been declining since 2015, the Cape Town water crisis peaked during mid-2017 to mid-2018 when water levels hovered between 15 and 30 percent of total dam capacity.

In late 2017, there were first mentions of plans for "Day Zero", a shorthand reference for the day when the water level of the major dams supplying the city could fall below 13.5 percent.<ref name="USA today" /><ref name="Globe and Mail" /><ref name="Poplak 2018" /> "Day Zero" would mark the start of Level 7 water restrictions, when municipal water supplies would be largely switched off and it was envisioned that residents could have to queue for their daily ration of water. If this had occurred, it would have made the City of Cape Town the first major city in the world to run out of water.<ref name="Booysen et al 2019" /><ref name="Booysen et al 2019a" />

The city of Cape Town implemented significant water restrictions in a bid to curb water usage, and succeeded in reducing its daily water usage by more than half to around 500 million litres (130,000,000 US gal) per day in March 2018.<ref name="Narrandes 2018" /> The fall in water usage led the city to postpone its estimate for "Day Zero", and strong rains starting in June 2018 led to dam levels recovering.<ref name="Myburgh 2018" /> In September 2018, with dam levels close to 70 percent, the city began easing water restrictions, indicating that the worst of the water crisis was over.<ref name="reduce-sep2018" /> Good rains in 2020 effectively broke the drought and resulting water shortage when dam levels reached 95 percent.<ref name="After drought" /> Concerns have been raised, however, that unsustainble demand and limited water supply could result in future drought events.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Day Zero still looms over Cape Town |url=https://climate.mit.edu/posts/day-zero-still-looms-over-cape-town |access-date=2023-04-20 |website=MIT Climate Portal |language=en}}</ref>

===Transport===

==== Air ====
[[File:2013.01.03_Ciudad_del_Cabo,_ZA_(28).JPG|thumb|left|Cape Town International Airport]]
Cape Town International Airport serves both domestic and international flights.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flights to Cape Town |url=https://flytoct.com |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=capetownetc.com }}</ref> It is the second-largest airport in South Africa and serves as a major gateway for travelers to the Cape region. Cape Town has regularly scheduled services to [[Place:Southern Africa|Southern Africa]], [[Place:East Africa|East Africa]], [[Earth:Mauritius|Mauritius]], [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]], [[Place:Far East|Far East]], [[Earth:Europe|Europe]] and the {{wipe|United States}} as well as eleven domestic destinations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/plan_trip/travel_tips/arriving/ctairport.htm |title=Cape Town International Airport |publisher=SouthAfrica.info |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625211424/http://www.southafrica.info/plan_trip/travel_tips/arriving/ctairport.htm |archive-date=25 June 2006}}</ref> Cape Town International Airport opened a brand new central terminal building that was developed to handle an expected increase in air traffic as tourism numbers increased in the lead-up to the tournament of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.suntimes.co.za/1998/05/17/news/cape/nct01.htm |work=Sunday Times |location=UK |title=R150-million upgrade kicks off one of the biggest developments in Cape Town's history |date=17 May 1998 |first=Bobby |last=Jordan |access-date=13 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051204030148/http://www.suntimes.co.za/1998/05/17/news/cape/nct01.htm |archive-date=4 December 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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. The airport's cargo facilities are also being expanded and several large empty lots are being developed into office space and hotels.

Cape Town is one of five internationally recognised Antarctic gateway cities with transportation connections. Since 2021, commercial flights have operated from Cape Town to Wolf's Fang Runway, Antarctica.<ref>{{Cite web |title=White Desert introduces direct flights from Cape Town to Antarctica |url=https://www.capetownetc.com/news/white-desert-introduces-direct-flights-from-cape-town-to-antarctica/ |access-date=23 February 2022 |website=capetownetc.com |archive-date=21 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221202948/https://www.capetownetc.com/news/white-desert-introduces-direct-flights-from-cape-town-to-antarctica/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Cape Town International Airport was among the winners of the World Travel Awards for being Africa's leading airport.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ctru.co.za/C3/CapeTownInternationalAirportamongtheWorld.pdf |title=Cape Town International Airport |publisher=Cape Town Routes Unlimited |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922094206/http://www.ctru.co.za/C3/CapeTownInternationalAirportamongtheWorld.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> Cape Town International Airport is located 18&nbsp;km from the Central Business District.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.distancecalculator.co.za/ |title=Distance Calculator |website=distancecalculator.co.za |access-date=24 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724001841/http://www.distancecalculator.co.za/ |archive-date=24 July 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Sea====
[[File:2011-02-06 14-34-03 South Africa - Foreshore.jpg|thumb|The Port of Cape Town is a major transport node in southern Africa. In addition to moving freight it also serves as a major repair site for ships and oil rigs.]]
Cape Town has a long tradition as a port city. The Port of Cape Town, the city's main port, is in Table Bay directly to the north of the CBD. The port is a hub for ships in the southern Atlantic: it is located along one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world, and acts as a stopover point for goods en route to or from Latin America and Asia. It is also an entry point into the South African market.<ref name="EU Handbook 2020">{{Cite book |url=https://ec.europa.eu/chafea/agri/sites/default/files/south-africa-handbook-2020_en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808145237/https://ec.europa.eu/chafea/agri/sites/default/files/south-africa-handbook-2020_en.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2021 |url-status=live |title=The Food and Beverage Market Entry Handbook: South Africa |publisher=European Union |year=2020 |isbn=978-92-9478-535-0 |location=European Union |pages=178}}</ref> It is the second-busiest container port in South Africa after Durban. In 2004, it handled 3,161 ships and 9.2&nbsp;million tonnes of cargo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ports.co.za/port-operations.php |publisher=South African Port Operations |title=Introducing SAPO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110801011548/http://ports.co.za/port-operations.php |archive-date=1 August 2011}}</ref>

Simon's Town Harbour on the False Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula is the main operational base of the South African Navy.<!-- The SAN headquarters is in Pretoria, not Simon's Town. But Simon's Town is, as stated, a major operational base for the South African Navy -->

Until the 1970s the city was served by the Union Castle Line with service to the United Kingdom and St Helena.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/the-last-boat-to-st-helena |title=The last boat to St Helena |website=The Oldie |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727071810/https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/the-last-boat-to-st-helena |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Engineering:RMS St Helena (1989)|RMS ''St Helena'']] provided passenger and cargo service between Cape Town and St Helena until the opening of St Helena Airport.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hollins, Jonathan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/rms-st-helena-royal-mail-ship-final-journey-cape-town-a8217436.html |title=What it was like to sail aboard the RMS St Helena's final voyage |work=The Independent |date=19 February 2018 |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426204147/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/rms-st-helena-royal-mail-ship-final-journey-cape-town-a8217436.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

The cargo vessel M/V ''Helena'', under AW Shipping Management, takes a limited number of passengers,<ref name=Cargoships>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/lists/cabins-on-cargo-ships/ |title=10 fascinating voyages on cargo ships |first=Nick |last=Trend |website=The Telegraph |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=14 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114022803/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/lists/cabins-on-cargo-ships/ |url-status=live}}</ref> between Cape Town and St Helena and Ascension Island on its voyages.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sthelenashipping.com/passengers/ |title=Passengers |work=St Helena Shipping |publisher=AW Shipping Management |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=31 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231144231/http://sthelenashipping.com/passengers/ |url-status=live}} – see [http://www.sthelenashipping.com/passengers/routes-prices/ Routes and Prices] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228173202/http://www.sthelenashipping.com/passengers/routes-prices/ |date=28 December 2019 }} which confirms its destinations</ref> Multiple vessels also take passengers to and from Tristan da Cunha, inaccessible by aircraft, to and from Cape Town.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tristandc.com/shipping.php |title=Cape Town – Tristan da Cunha Shipping Schedule |publisher=Tristan da Cunha Government & Tristan da Cunha Association |access-date=6 January 2020 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611235109/https://www.tristandc.com/shipping.php |url-status=live}}</ref> In addition {{ill|NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaft|de}} takes passengers on its cargo service to the Canary Islands and [[Place:Hamburg|Hamburg]], {{wipe|Germany}}.<ref name=Cargoships/>

====Rail====
[[File:Kalk Bay Station 3.jpg|thumb|Metrorail train leaving Kalk Bay station]]
The Shosholoza Meyl is the passenger rail operations of Spoornet and operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Cape Town: a daily service to and from Johannesburg via Kimberley and a weekly service to and from Durban via Kimberley, [[Place:Bloemfontein|Bloemfontein]] and [[Place:Pietermaritzburg|Pietermaritzburg]]. These trains terminate at Cape Town railway station and make a brief stop at Bellville. Cape Town is also one terminus of the luxury tourist-oriented Blue Train as well as the five-star Rovos Rail.

Metrorail operates a commuter rail service in Cape Town and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network consists of 96 stations throughout the suburbs and outskirts of Cape Town.

====Road====
Cape Town is the origin of three national roads. The N1 and N2 begin in the foreshore area near the City Centre and the N7, which runs North toward Namibia. The N1 runs East-North-East through Edgemead, Parow, Bellville, Brackenfell and Kraaifontein. It connects Cape Town to major cities further inland, namely [[Place:Bloemfontein|Bloemfontein]], [[Place:Johannesburg|Johannesburg]], and [[Place:Pretoria|Pretoria]] An older at-grade road, the R101, runs parallel to the N1 from Bellville. The N2 runs East-South-East through Rondebosch, Guguletu, Khayelitsha, Macassar to Somerset West. It becomes a multiple-carriageway, at-grade road from the intersection with the R44 onward. The N2 continues east along the coast, linking Cape Town to the coastal cities of Mossel Bay, George, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. An older at-grade road, the R102, runs parallel to the N1 initially, before veering south at Bellville, to join the N2 at Somerset West via the suburbs of Kuils River and Eerste River. The N7 originates from the N1 at Wingfield Interchange near Edgemead. It begins, initially as a highway, but becoming an at-grade road from the intersection with the M5 onward.
[[File:Cape_Town_N2.jpg|thumb|left|The N2 as it enters the city centre.]]

There are also a number of regional routes linking Cape Town with surrounding areas. The R27 originates from the N1 near the Foreshore and runs north parallel to the N7, but nearer to the coast. It passes through the suburbs of Milnerton, Table View and Bloubergstrand and links the city to the West Coast, ending at the town of Velddrif. The R44 enters the east of the metro from the north, from Stellenbosch. It connects Stellenbosch to Somerset West, then crosses the N2 to Strand and Gordon's Bay. It exits the metro heading south hugging the coast, leading to the towns of Betty's Bay and Kleinmond.

Of the three-digit routes, the R300 is an expressway linking the N1 at Brackenfell to the N2 near Mitchells Plain and the Cape Town International Airport. The R302 runs from the R102 in Bellville, heading north across the N1 through Durbanville leaving the metro to Malmesbury. The R304 enters the northern limits of the metro from Stellenbosch, running NNW before veering west to cross the N7 at Philadelphia to end at Atlantis at a junction with the R307. This R307 starts north of Koeberg from the R27 and, after meeting the R304, continues north to Darling. The R310 originates from Muizenberg and runs along the coast, to the south of Mitchell's Plain and Khayelitsha, before veering north-east, crossing the N2 west of Macassar, and exiting the metro heading to Stellenbosch.

Cape Town, like most South African cities, uses Metropolitan or "M" routes for important intra-city routes, a layer below National (N) roads and Regional (R) routes. Each city's M roads are independently numbered. Most are at-grade roads. The M3 splits from the N2 and runs to the south along the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, connecting the City Bowl with Muizenberg. Except for a section between Rondebosch and Newlands that has at-grade intersections, this route is a highway. The M5 splits from the N1 further east than the M3, and links the Cape Flats to the CBD. It is a highway as far as the interchange with the M68 at Ottery, before continuing as an at-grade road. Cape Town has the worst traffic congestion in {{wipe|South Africa}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=TomTom Traffic Index |url=http://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/trafficindex/#/list |access-date=29 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201021928/https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/trafficindex/#/list |archive-date=1 December 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=R750 million to fight traffic in SA's most congested city |url=http://businesstech.co.za/news/general/103039/r750-million-to-fight-traffic-in-sas-most-congested-city/ |access-date=29 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208104036/http://businesstech.co.za/news/general/103039/r750-million-to-fight-traffic-in-sas-most-congested-city/ |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Buses====
Golden Arrow Bus Services operates scheduled bus services in the Cape Town metropolitan area. Several companies run long-distance bus services from Cape Town to the other cities in South Africa.

=====MyCiTi=====
[[File:MyCiti_BRT_Adderley_station_(21812360016).jpg|thumb|MyCiTi station and bus]]
Cape Town has a public transport system in about 10% of the city, running north to south along the west coastline of the city, comprising Phase 1 of the IRT system. This is known as the MyCiTi service.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://myciti.org.za/en/home/ |title=MyCiTi |access-date=29 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225063521/http://myciti.org.za/en/home/ |archive-date=25 December 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

MyCiTi Phase 1 includes services linking the Airport to the Cape Town inner city, as well as the following areas: Blouberg / Table View, Dunoon, Atlantis and Melkbosstrand, Milnerton, Paarden Eiland, Century City, Salt River and Walmer Estate, and all suburbs of the City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard all the way to Llandudno and Hout Bay.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The MyCiTi N2 Express service consists of two routes each linking the Cape Town inner city and Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The service use high floor articulated and standard size buses in dedicated busways, low floor articulated and standard size buses on the N2 Express service, and smaller {{cvt|9|m|adj=on|abbr=off}} Optare buses in suburban and inner city areas. It offers [[Engineering:Accessibility#Transportation|universal access]] through level boarding and numerous other measures, and requires cashless fare payment using the EMV compliant smart card system, called myconnect. Headway of services (i.e. the time between buses on the same route) range from three to twenty minutes in peak times to an hour in off-peak times.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

====Taxis====
[[File:Cape_Town_Taxicab_in_Campsbay.jpg|thumb|left|Cape Town Taxicab in Camps Bay]]
Cape Town has taxis as well as e-hailing services such as Uber. Taxis are either metered taxis or minibus taxis. Unlike many cities, metered taxis can be found at transport hubs as well as other tourist establishments, while minibus taxis can be found at taxi ranks or travelling along main streets.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Public transport {{!}} Transport and Public Works |url=https://www.westerncape.gov.za/tpw/public-transport |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=www.westerncape.gov.za}}</ref> Minibus taxis can be hailed from the road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The best ways to get around Cape Town: cycling, walking and safety |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/getting-around-cape-town |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=Lonely Planet |language=en}}</ref>

Cape Town metered taxi cabs mostly operate in the city bowl, suburbs and Cape Town International Airport areas. Large companies that operate fleets of cabs can be reached by phone and are cheaper than the single operators that apply for hire from taxi ranks and Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. There are about one thousand meter taxis in Cape Town. Their rates vary from R8 per kilometre to about R15 per kilometre. The larger taxi companies in Cape Town are Excite Taxis, Cabnet and Intercab and single operators are reachable by cellular phone. The seven seated Toyota Avanza are the most popular with larger Taxi companies. Meter cabs are mostly used by tourists and are safer to use than minibus taxis.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Minibus taxis are the standard form of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private vehicles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cape-town.org/directory.asp?McatId=8 |publisher=CapeTown.org |title=Transport |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128184051/http://www.cape-town.org/directory.asp?McatId=8 |archive-date=28 November 2011}}</ref> Although essential, these taxis are often poorly maintained and are frequently not road-worthy. These taxis make frequent unscheduled stops to pick up passengers, which can cause accidents.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1566/is_200209/ai_n7215423 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203204842/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1566/is_200209/ai_n7215423 |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 February 2007 |title=South Africa's minibus wars: uncontrollable law-defying minibuses oust buses and trains from transit |publisher=LookSmart}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.c2es.org/global-warming-in-depth/all_reports/transportation_in_south_africa/trans_sa_execsumm.cfm |title=Transportation in Developing Countries: Greenhouse Gas Scenarios for South Africa |publisher=Center for Climate and Energy Solutions |access-date=8 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223234303/http://www.c2es.org/global-warming-in-depth/all_reports/transportation_in_south_africa/trans_sa_execsumm.cfm |archive-date=23 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> With the high demand for transport by the working class of South Africa, minibus taxis are often filled over their legal passenger allowance. Minibuses are generally owned and operated in fleets.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.enterpriseafrica.org/repository/docLib/20060427_MC_GPI_EATaxi_060323.pdf |title=Taxing Alternatives: Poverty Alleviation and the South African Taxi/Minibus Industry |publisher=Enterprise Africa! Research Publications |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625232203/http://www.enterpriseafrica.org/repository/docLib/20060427_MC_GPI_EATaxi_060323.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[File:Kaapse Klopse marching through Cape Town (2017).jpg|thumb|Cape Town Minstrel Carnival (2017)]]
[[File:Cape Town Festival Mask.jpg | thumb|right | Cape Town Festival Mask]]
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encounter.co.za/article/19.html |title=Cape Dutch Architecture |publisher=Encounter South Africa |access-date=14 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618001306/http://www.encounter.co.za/article/19.html |archive-date=18 June 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dewar |first1=David |last2=Hutton-Squire |first2=Martin |last3=Levy |first3=Caren |last4=Menidis |first4=Philip |last5=Uytenbogaardt |first5=Roelof |title=A Comparative Evaluation of Urbanism in Cape Town |year=1977 |publisher=University of Cape Town Press |isbn=0-620-02535-2 |pages=20–98}}</ref> The annual Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, also known by its Afrikaans name of ''Kaapse Klopse'', is a large minstrel festival held annually on 2 January or ''"Tweede Nuwe Jaar"'' (Second New Year). Competing teams of minstrels parade in brightly coloured costumes, performing Cape Jazz, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The Artscape Theatre Centre is the largest performing arts venue in Cape Town.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/cape-town/cape-town/venue/1%3A23699/artscape-theatre-centre |title=Artscape Theatre Centre |website=timeout.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731194936/http://www.timeout.com/cape-town/cape-town/venue/1%3A23699/artscape-theatre-centre |archive-date=31 July 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The city was named the [[Engineering:World Design Capital|World Design Capital]] for 2014 by the [[Organization:International Council of Societies of Industrial Design|International Council of Societies of Industrial Design]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Cape Town Hosts Official WDC 2014 Signing Ceremony |url=http://www.worlddesigncapital.com/press-releases/cape-town-hosts-official-world-design-capital-2014-signing-ceremony/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310030341/http://www.worlddesigncapital.com/press-releases/cape-town-hosts-official-world-design-capital-2014-signing-ceremony/ |archive-date=10 March 2013 |access-date=4 August 2012 |publisher=World Design Capital}}</ref>
[[File:Holi One We Are One Colour Festival South Africa 2013.jpg|thumb|Holi festival at the Grand Parade]]

The city also encloses the 36 hectare Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden that contains protected natural forest and [[Biology:Fynbos|fynbos]] along with a variety of animals and birds. There are over 7,000 species in cultivation at Kirstenbosch, including many rare and threatened species of the [[Biology:Cape Floristic Region|Cape Floristic Region]]. In 2004 this Region, including Kirstenbosch, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sanbi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&Itemid=57&id=139 |title=Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden |publisher=Sanbi.org |access-date=1 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929154010/http://www.sanbi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&Itemid=57&id=139 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Whale watching is popular amongst tourists: [[Biology:Southern right whale|southern right whale]]s and [[Biology:Humpback whale|humpback whale]]s are seen off the coast during the breeding season (August to November) and [[Biology:Bryde's whale|Bryde's whale]]s and [[Biology:Orca|orca]] can be seen any time of the year.<ref name="CTwhale">{{cite web |url=http://www.afton.co.za/whale-watching.htm |title=Cape Town Whale Watching |publisher=Afton Grove |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060422020303/http://www.afton.co.za/whale-watching.htm |archive-date=22 April 2006}}</ref> The nearby town of Hermanus is known for its Whale Festival, but whales can also be seen in False Bay.<ref name="CTwhale"/> [[Biology:Heaviside's dolphin|Heaviside's dolphin]]s are endemic to the area and can be seen from the coast north of Cape Town; [[Biology:Dusky dolphin|dusky dolphin]]s live along the same coast and can occasionally be seen from the ferry to Robben Island.<ref name="CTwhale"/>

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.

===Cuisine===
[[File:Cape Town - Vegan Lekker Nuggy Gatsby in restaurant Lekker Vegan.jpg|thumb|A gatsby sandwich, freshly prepared]]
Food originating from or synonymous with Cape Town includes the savoury sweet spiced meat dish Bobotie that dates from the 17th century. The Gatsby, a sandwich filled with slap chips and other toppings, was first served in 1976 in the suburb of Athlone and is also synonymous with the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Andrew |date=30 September 2016 |title=Dishes You Have to Eat When in Cape Town, South Africa |url=https://theculturetrip.com/africa/south-africa/articles/dishes-you-have-to-eat-when-in-cape-town/ |access-date=4 June 2022 |website=Culture Trip |archive-date=28 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628131545/https://theculturetrip.com/africa/south-africa/articles/dishes-you-have-to-eat-when-in-cape-town/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The koe'sister is a traditional Cape Malay pastry described as a cinnamon infused dumpling with a cake-like texture, finished off with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 January 2018 |title=Dial-A-Koesister: Cape Town's genius answer to those sweet treat cravings |url=https://www.food24.com/dial-a-koesister-cape-towns-genius-answer-to-those-sweet-treat-cravings/ |access-date=4 June 2022 |website=Food24 |language=en-US |archive-date=30 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130020948/https://www.food24.com/dial-a-koesister-cape-towns-genius-answer-to-those-sweet-treat-cravings/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Malva pudding (sometimes known as Cape Malva pudding) is a sticky sweet dessert often served with hot custard is also associated with the city and dates back to the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 April 2020 |title=Malva Pudding |url=https://www.capetownculinarytours.com/foodies/1888/ |access-date=4 June 2022 |website=Cape Town Culinary Tours |language=en |archive-date=27 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627200511/https://www.capetownculinarytours.com/foodies/1888/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A related dessert dish, Cape Brandy Pudding, is also associated with the city and surrounding region.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2019-08-23 |title=Cape Brandy Pudding Recipe |url=https://www.makweti.com/seasoned-safari-culinary-experiences/cape-brandy-pudding-recipe/ |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=Makweti |language=en |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112105054/https://www.makweti.com/seasoned-safari-culinary-experiences/cape-brandy-pudding-recipe/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Cape Town is also the home of the South African wine industry with the first wine produced in the country being bottled in the city; a number of notable wineries still exist in the city including Groot Constantia and Klein Constantia.

===Media===
[[File:Cape Town TV news van.jpg|thumb|left|A news van owned by Cape Town TV outside the Houses of Parliament]]

Several newspapers, magazines and printing facilities have their offices in the city. Independent News and Media publishes the major English language papers in the city, the ''Cape Argus'' and the ''Cape Times''. Naspers, the largest media conglomerate in South Africa, publishes ''Die Burger'', the major Afrikaans language paper.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abyznewslinks.com/safri.htm |title=South Africa Newspapers |publisher=ABYZ News Links |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226162818/http://www.abyznewslinks.com/safri.htm |archive-date=26 February 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cape Town has many local community newspapers. Some of the largest community newspapers in English are the ''Athlone News'' from Athlone, the ''Atlantic Sun'', the ''Constantiaberg Bulletin'' from Constantiaberg, the ''City Vision'' from Bellville, the ''False Bay Echo'' from False Bay, the ''Helderberg Sun'' from Helderberg, the ''Plainsman'' from Michell's Plain, the ''Sentinel News'' from Hout Bay, the ''Southern Mail'' from the Southern Peninsula, the ''Southern Suburbs Tatler'' from the Southern Suburbs, ''Table Talk'' from Table View and ''Tygertalk'' from Tygervalley/Durbanville. Afrikaans language community newspapers include the ''Landbou-Burger'' and the ''Tygerburger''.
''Vukani'', based in the Cape Flats, is published in [[Social:Xhosa language|Xhosa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailyearth.com/IntnNews/southafrica.html |title=South Africa Newspapers |publisher=Daily Earth |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829093302/http://dailyearth.com/IntnNews/southafrica.html |archive-date=29 August 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cape Town is a centre for major broadcast media with several radio stations that only broadcast within the city. 94.5 Kfm (94.5&nbsp;MHz FM) and Good Hope FM (94–97&nbsp;MHz [[Engineering:FM broadcasting|FM]]) mostly play pop music. Heart FM (104.9&nbsp;MHz FM), the former P4 Radio, plays jazz and R&B, while Fine Music Radio (101.3 FM) plays classical music and jazz, and Magic Music Radio<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://magic828.co.za/ |title=Magic 828 – Less Talk, More Music |first=Alan |last=Williams |website=Magic 828 – Less Talk More Music |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=2 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002020622/https://magic828.co.za/ |url-status=live}}</ref> (828 [[Kilohertz|kHz]] MW) plays adult contemporary and classic rock from the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} Bush Radio is a community radio station (89.5&nbsp;MHz FM). The Voice of the Cape (95.8&nbsp;MHz FM) and Cape Talk (567&nbsp;kHz MW) are the major talk radio stations in the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biz-community.com/Companies/196/59.html |title=Radio companies |publisher=BizCommunity.Com |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118135807/http://biz-community.com/Companies/196/59.html |archive-date=18 January 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Bokradio (98.9&nbsp;MHz FM) is an Afrikaans music station.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bokradio.co.za/ |title=98.9fm |publisher=Bok Radio |date=20 June 2013 |access-date=24 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228083313/http://www.bokradio.co.za/ |archive-date=28 February 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> The University of Cape Town also runs its own radio station, UCT Radio (104.5&nbsp;MHz FM).

The [[Social:SABC|SABC]] has a small presence in the city, with satellite studios located at Sea Point. e.tv has a greater presence, with a large complex located at Longkloof Studios in Gardens. M-Net is not well represented with infrastructure within the city. Cape Town TV is a local TV station, supported by numerous organisation and focusing mostly on documentaries. Numerous productions companies and their support industries are located in the city, mostly supporting the production of overseas commercials, model shoots, TV-series and movies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmmakersguide.co.za/filming_in_sa |title=South African Industry News |publisher=filmmakersguide.co.za |access-date=24 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217122738/http://www.filmmakersguide.co.za/filming_in_sa |archive-date=17 February 2010}}</ref> The local media infrastructure remains primarily in Johannesburg.

===Sport and recreation===
[[File:New stadium - panoramio.jpg|thumb|Cape Town Stadium in Green Point]]
[[File:Newlands2.jpg|thumb|Newlands Cricket Ground]]
[[File:Newlands_stadium_cropped.jpg|thumb|Newlands Stadium]]
[[File:Kitesurfers-001.JPG|thumb|Kitesurfing in Table Bay]]

Cape Town's most popular sports by participation are cricket, association football, swimming, and rugby union.<ref>{{cite book |last=Woulidge |first=Sam |title=Time Out: Cape Town |year=2006 |publisher=Time Out Publishing |isbn=1-904978-12-6 |pages=127–130: Sports}}</ref> In rugby union, Cape Town is the home of the Western Province side, who play at Cape Town Stadium and compete in the Currie Cup. In addition, Western Province players (along with some from Wellington's Boland Cavaliers) comprise the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship competition. Cape Town has also been a host city for both the 1995 Rugby World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup, and annually hosts the Africa leg of the World Rugby 7s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=worldrugby.org |title=Rounds and Tournaments – HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series {{!}} world.rugby/sevens-series |url=https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/calendar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007181633/https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/calendar |archive-date=7 October 2020 |access-date=12 October 2020 |website=world.rugby}}</ref> It will also be host to the 2023 Netball World Cup.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cape Town to host national netball championships in December |date=25 November 2021 |url=https://www.news24.com/witness/sport/general/cape-town-to-host-national-netball-championships-in-december-20211124 |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114024648/https://www.news24.com/witness/sport/general/cape-town-to-host-national-netball-championships-in-december-20211124 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Association football, which is mostly known as ''soccer'' in South Africa, is also popular. Two clubs from Cape Town play in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), South Africa's premier league. These teams are Ajax Cape Town, which formed as a result of the 1999 amalgamation of the Seven Stars and the Cape Town Spurs and resurrected Cape Town City F.C. Cape Town was also the location of several of the matches of the FIFA 2010 World Cup including a semi-final,<ref name="southafrica.info">{{cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/2010/2010-faq.htm |title=SA 2010: frequent questions |publisher=southafrica.info |access-date=26 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070603155707/http://www.southafrica.info/2010/2010-faq.htm |archive-date=3 June 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> held in South Africa. The Mother City built a new 70,000-seat stadium (Cape Town Stadium) in the Green Point area.

In cricket, the Cape Cobras represent Cape Town at the Newlands Cricket Ground. The team is the result of an amalgamation of the Western Province Cricket and Boland Cricket teams. They take part in the Supersport and Standard Bank Cup Series. The Newlands Cricket Ground regularly hosts international matches.

Cape Town has had Olympic aspirations. For example, in 1996, Cape Town was one of the five candidate cities shortlisted by the IOC to launch official candidatures to host the 2004 Summer Olympics. Although the Games ultimately went to [[Place:Athens|Athens]], Cape Town came in third place. There has been some speculation that Cape Town was seeking the South African Olympic Committee's nomination to be South Africa's bid city for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.<ref>[http://www.gamesbids.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=5&id=1049905279 South Africa Announces Bid For 2020 Summer Olympic Games] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613004431/http://www.gamesbids.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=5&id=1049905279 |date=13 June 2008}}, Gamesbids.com</ref> That was quashed when the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2020 Games to Tokyo.

The city of Cape Town has vast experience in hosting major national and international sports events. The Cape Town Cycle Tour is the world's largest individually timed road cycling race – and the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union's Golden Bike series. It sees over 35,000 cyclists tackling a {{cvt|109|km|0}} route around Cape Town. The Absa Cape Epic is the largest full-service mountain bike stage race in the world. Some notable events hosted by Cape Town have included the 1995 Rugby World Cup, 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, and World Championships in various sports such as athletics, fencing, weightlifting, hockey, cycling, canoeing, gymnastics and others. Cape Town was also a host city to the 2010 FIFA World Cup from 11 June to 11 July 2010, further enhancing its profile as a major events city. It was also one of the host cities of the 2009 Indian Premier League cricket tournament. The Mother City has also played host to the Africa leg of the annual World Rugby 7s event since 2015; for nine seasons, from 2002 until 2010, the event was staged in George in the Western Cape, before moving to Port Elizabeth for the 2011 edition, and then to Cape Town in 2015. The event usually takes place in mid-December, and is hosted at the Cape Town Stadium in Green Point.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stadium |url=http://capetown7s.com/stadium/ |access-date=12 October 2020 |website=HSBC Cape Town Sevens |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125135018/https://capetown7s.com/stadium/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

There are several golf courses in Cape Town. The Clovelly Country Club and Metropolitan Golf Club are two of the best Golf Courses in Cape Town both offering superb views while playing the 18 holes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Best Golf Courses in Cape Town |url=https://moneytoday.co.za/best-golf-courses-in-cape-town/ |website=MoneyToday.co.za |date=9 July 2022 |publisher=MoneyToday |access-date=12 July 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709184621/https://moneytoday.co.za/best-golf-courses-in-cape-town/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The coastline of Cape Town is relatively long, and the varied exposure to weather conditions makes it fairly common for water conditions to be conducive to recreational scuba diving at some part of the city's coast. There is considerable variation in the underwater environment and regional ecology as there are dive sites on reefs and wrecks on both sides of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay, split between two coastal marine ecoregions by the Cape Peninsula, and also variable by depth zone.

[[File:Blue Wall of Sandy Bay.jpg|thumb|Surfing in Sandy Bay]]
False Bay is open to the south, and the prevailing open ocean swell arrives from the southwest, so the exposure varies considerably around the coastline. The inshore bathymetry near Cape Point is shallow enough for a moderate amount of refraction of long period swell, but deep enough to have less effect on short period swell, and acts as a filter to pass mainly the longer swell components to the Western shores, although they are significantly attenuated. The eastern shores get more of the open ocean spectrum, and this results in very different swell conditions between the two sides at any given time. The fetch is generally too short for southeasterly winds to produce good surf. There are more than 20 named breaks in False Bay. The north-wester can have a long fetch and can produce large waves, but they may also be associated with local wind and be very poorly sorted. The Atlantic coast is exposed to the full power of the South-westerly swell produced by the westerly winds of the southern ocean, often a long way away, so the swell has time to separate into similar wavelengths, and there are some world class big wave breaks among the named breaks of the Atlantic shore.<ref name="Wavescape 1" /><ref name="Wavescape 2" /><ref name="Wavescape 3" />


==See also==

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="After drought" >{{Cite web |date=7 September 2020 |title=After the drought: Cape Town's gushing water |url=https://www.groundup.org.za/article/after-drought-cape-towns-gushing-water/ |access-date=11 September 2020 |website=GroundUp News |language=en |archive-date=4 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704224704/https://www.groundup.org.za/article/after-drought-cape-towns-gushing-water/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Booysen et al 2019" >{{Cite web |url=http://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/Day%20Zero%20when%20is%20it,%20what%20is%20it,%20and%20how%20can%20we%20avoid%20it |title=Day Zero, when is it, what is it and how can we avoid it |website=City of Cape Town |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123080923/http://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/Day%20Zero%20when%20is%20it,%20what%20is%20it,%20and%20how%20can%20we%20avoid%20it |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Booysen et al 2019a" >{{cite journal |last1=Booysen |first1=M.J. |last2=Visser |first2=M. |last3=Burger |first3=R. |date=2019 |title=Temporal case study of household behavioural response to Cape Town's Day Zero using smart meter data |journal=Water Research |volume=149 |pages=414–420 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.11.035 |doi=10.31224/osf.io/6nckp |pmid=30472543 |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202050950/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135418309564?via%3Dihub |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Brown and Magoba 2009 part 1" >{{cite report |url=https://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/TT-376-08_Part%201.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616054856/https://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/TT-376-08_Part%201.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2022 |url-status=live |title=Rivers and Wetlands of Cape Town (Part 1) |pages=1–178 |editor1-first=Cate |editor1-last=Brown |editor2-first=Rembu |editor2-last=Magoba |publisher=Water Research Commission |work=Project No: K5/1691 |date=2009 |first1=Tony |last1=Murray |first2=Cate |last2=Brown |first3=Evan |last3=Dollar |first4=Jenny |last4=Day |first5=Hans |last5=Beuster |first6=Candice |last6=Haskins |first7=Charlie |last7=Boucher |first8=Jane |last8=Turpie |first9=Julia |last9=Wood |first10=Martin |last10=Thompson |first11=Steve |last11=Lamberth |first12=Lara |last12=van Niekerk |first13=Dean |last13=Impson |first14=Rembu |last14=Magoba |first15=Chantel |last15=Petersen |first16=Denis |last16=Davey |first17=Mandy |last17=Noffke |first18=Rowena |last18=Hay |first19=Chris |last19=Hartnady |first20=Justine |last20=Ewart-Smith |first21=Marius |last21=Burger |first22=Emily |last22=Fairburn |first23=Geordie |last23=Ractliffe |first24=Liz |last24=Day |first25=Mike |last25=Luger |first26=Katy |last26=Lannas |first27=Tovhowani |last27=Ndiitwani-Nyamande}}</ref>

<ref name="Coleman 2019" >{{cite thesis |title=The Development and Validation of a Hydrodynamic Model of False Bay |last=Coleman |first=Fawaaz |date=April 2019 |publisher=University of Stellenbosch}}</ref>

<ref name="Compton 2004" >{{cite book |last=Compton |first=John S. |date=2004 |title=The Rocks & Mountains of Cape Town |location=Cape Town |publisher=Double Story |isbn=978-1-919930-70-1}}</ref>

<ref name="Cowling et al 1996" >{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226216492 |first1=R.M. |last1=Cowling |last2=Macdonald |first2=Ian A. W. |last3=Simmons |first3=Mark |date=1996 |title=The Cape Peninsula, South Africa: Physiographical, biological and historical background to an extraordinary hot-spot of biodiversity |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=527–550 |doi=10.1007/BF00137608 |bibcode=1996BiCon...5..527C |s2cid=23314811 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

<ref name="Globe and Mail" >{{cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/cape-town-residents-become-guinea-pigs-for-the-world-with-water-conservationcampaign/article38257004/ |title=Cape Town residents become 'guinea pigs for the world' with water-conservation campaign |last=York |first=Geoffrey |date=8 March 2018 |work=The Globe and Mail |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=19 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119091917/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/cape-town-residents-become-guinea-pigs-for-the-world-with-water-conservationcampaign/article38257004/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Map 3318" >{{cite map |title=1:250,000 Geological Series map 3318:Cape Town |publisher=Government Printer |location=Pretoria |date=1990}}</ref>

<ref name="Myburgh 2018" >{{Cite news |url=http://www.capemessenger.co.za/2018/06/29/chamber-delighted-by-day-zeros-death/ |title=Chamber delighted by Day-Zero's death |last=Myburgh |first=Janine |date=29 June 2018 |journal=Cape Messenger |access-date=29 June 2018 |archive-date=6 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706025457/http://www.capemessenger.co.za/2018/06/29/chamber-delighted-by-day-zeros-death/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Narrandes 2018" >{{cite web |url=http://www.capetownetc.com/water-crisis/water-usage-further-reduced-in-cape-town/ |title=Cape Town water usage lower than ever |last=Narrandes |first=Nidha |date=14 March 2018 |publisher=Cape Town etc. |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=15 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215230132/https://www.capetownetc.com/water-crisis/water-usage-further-reduced-in-cape-town/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Pfaff et al 2019" >{{cite journal |title=A synthesis of three decades of socio-ecological change in False Bay, South Africa: setting the scene for multidisciplinary research and management |first1=Maya C. |last1=Pfaff |first2=Renae C. |last2=Logston |first3=Serge J. P. N. |last3=Raemaekers |first4=Juliet C. |last4=Hermes |first5=Laura K. |last5=Blamey |first6=Hayley C. |last6=Cawthra |first7=Darryl R. |last7=Colenbrander |first8=Robert J. M. |last8=Crawford |first9=Elizabeth |last9=Day |first10=Nicole |last10=du Plessis |first11=Simon H. |last11=Elwen |first12=Sarah E. |last12=Fawcett |first13=Mark R. |last13=Jury |first14=Natasha |last14=Karenyi |first15=Sven E. |last15=Kerwath |first16=Alison A. |last16=Kock |first17=Marjolaine |last17=Krug |first18=Stephen J. |last18=Lamberth |first19=Aaniyah |last19=Omardien |first20=Grant C. |last20=Pitcher |first21=Christo |last21=Rautenbach |first22=Tamara B. |last22=Robinson |first23=Mathieu |last23=Rouault |first24=Peter G. |last24=Ryan |first25=Frank A. |last25=Shillington |first26=Merle |last26=Sowman |first27=Conrad C. |last27=Sparks |first28=Jane K. |last28=Turpie |first29=Lara |last29=van Niekerk |first30=Howard N. |last30=Waldron |first31=Eleanor M. |last31=Yeld |first32=Stephen P. |last32=Kirkman |journal=Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene |year=2019 |volume=7 |issue=32 |page=32 |doi=10.1525/elementa.367 |bibcode=2019EleSA...7...32P |doi-access=free|hdl=2263/75633 |hdl-access=free }} Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)</ref>

<ref name="Poplak 2018" >{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/cape-town-water-crisis/553076/ |title=What's Actually Behind Cape Town's Water Crisis |last=Poplak |first=Richard |date=15 February 2018 |work=The Atlantic |access-date=22 February 2018 |archive-date=22 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422162755/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/cape-town-water-crisis/553076/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="reduce-sep2018" >{{cite web |url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/city-of-cape-town-relaxes-water-restrictions-tariffs-to-level-5-20180910 |title=City of Cape Town relaxes water restrictions, tariffs to Level 5 |last=Pitt |first=Christina |date=10 September 2018 |publisher=News24 |access-date=10 September 2018 |archive-date=12 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212034631/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/city-of-cape-town-relaxes-water-restrictions-tariffs-to-level-5-20180910 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="USA today" >{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/19/cape-town-could-first-major-city-run-out-water/1047237001/ |title=Cape Town could be the first major city in the world to run out of water |last=Cassim |first=Zaheer |date=19 January 2018 |work=USA Today |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=8 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508093442/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/19/cape-town-could-first-major-city-run-out-water/1047237001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Wavescape 1" >{{cite web |url=https://www.wavescape.co.za/spots/spots-by-region/table-bay.html |title=Melkbosstrand to Mouille Point |website=wavescape.co.za |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=6 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806001257/http://www.wavescape.co.za/spots/spots-by-region/table-bay.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Wavescape 2" >{{cite web |url=https://www.wavescape.co.za/spots/spots-by-region/cape-peninsula-west.html |title=Mouille Point to Sandy Bay |website=wavescape.co.za |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927001713/https://www.wavescape.co.za/spots/spots-by-region/cape-peninsula-west.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Wavescape 3" >{{cite web |url=https://www.wavescape.co.za/spots/spots-by-region/cape-peninsula-south.html |title=Sandy Bay to Cape Point |website=wavescape.co.za |access-date=4 June 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926235648/https://www.wavescape.co.za/spots/spots-by-region/cape-peninsula-south.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{EB1911 poster|Cape Town}}
{{wikivoyage}}
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* of the City of Cape Town
* of the Western Cape
* of Cape Town Tourism


[[Category:Capitals in Africa]]
[[Category:Provincial capitals in South Africa]]

{{Sourceattribution|Cape Town}}