Cape Town, a city of 3 or 4 million people set in beautiful surrounds, is one of the more civilized places in Africa. It is the capital city of the Western Cape, one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It is also the seat of South Africa's Parliment. Cape Town has traditionally been one of the least conservative and most English-speaking parts of South Africa. It has a sizeable gay community, and is a popular tourust destination for both internal and international holidaymakers.
Cape Town is located at the South end (and a little bit West), on the peninsula of the Cape of Good Hope, and wraps around Table Mountain. The city center and site of the orignalsettlement is around the harbour of Table bay, the bay that contains Robben Island.
While the Cape of Good Hope, which points out towards Antarctica, is technically not the southernmost point of the African continent (that's Cape Agulhas), it is close, and is the place where the Ocean currents of the coldish Indian Ocean and the definitely cold Atlantic Ocean meet.
Cape Town is the southernmost city in Africa. The climate is coastal and mediteranean: Rain in winter (June-July), but never frost or snow, except on the peaks of nearby mountains. In summer (December-January) it is hot, often over 30 centigrade, and sunny with little rain. It is not uncommon for there to be no rain at all in January and February.
The local vegetation, the distinctive Fynbos, is adapted to regular seasonal droughts.
"Cape Town" is always spelt as two words. People from Cape Town are Capetonian.
Like, hey, Cape Town is fully laid back, broo. People from Joburg should just like chill out, ek se. Cape Town has a reputation in Joburg as a relaxed holiday seaside town, thought the locals don't see it that way. Joburgers joke that Capetonians find their way around by judging distance and angle to the mountain. To Capetonians this is a simple fact, and don't see how anyone can find their way around easily in Joburg, where there is no mountain.
English is common in Cape Town, and almost everyone will speak it to some extent, but Afrikaans and Xhosa are also common.
If you disregard the huge shanty-towns, ubiquitous beggars and appalling crime rate, and learn to speak a few words of Xhosa, it is quite Mediterranean.
Quote from an upcountry commentator. "Cape Town is barely part of South Africa, let alone Africa". (It's a criticism of the society, not a statement on the geography).
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