Wilderness, Western Cape

Wilderness
Wildernis

The town of Wilderness from the Kaaiman's River Pass incline
Wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness

 Wilderness shown within Western Cape

Coordinates: 33°59′S 22°35′E / 33.983°S 22.583°E / -33.983; 22.583Coordinates: 33°59′S 22°35′E / 33.983°S 22.583°E / -33.983; 22.583
Country South Africa
Province Western Cape
District Eden
Municipality George
Established 1877
Area[1]
 • Total 36.97 km2 (14.27 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 6,164
 • Density 170/km2 (430/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
 • Black African 12.0%
 • Coloured 47.2%
 • Indian/Asian 0.6%
 • White 38.5%
 • Other 1.8%
First languages (2011)[1]
 • Afrikaans 68.5%
 • English 23.7%
 • Xhosa 4.9%
 • Other 2.9%
Postal code (street) 6560
PO box 6560
The Outeniqua Choo Tjoe crossing the Kaaimans River into Wilderness

Wilderness (Afrikaans: Wildernis) is a seaside town on the Garden Route of the southern Cape in South Africa.

It is situated a short distance east from the city of George, on the N2 down the Kaaiman's River Pass. It is known for its long white sand beach and lagoons. The town caters mostly to holiday-makers and is situated directly on the Touw River Lagoon.

The town experiences an extremely mild climate, typical of the Garden Route and has little temperature variation, seldom dropping below 10 °C and above 28 °C, with year-round rainfall. The flora type is Afromontane gallery forest.

The Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam train originally ran through the town en route between George and Knysna during its years of operation.

Wilderness was the home of the former State President of South Africa, P.W. Botha, until his death in 2006.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Main Place Wilderness". Census 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.