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Eastern Cape, South Africa

Eastern Cape
Oos-Kaap (in Afrikaans)
Mpuma Koloni (in Xhosa)
Province of South Africa
Coat of arms of Eastern Cape
Coat of arms
Motto: Development through Unity
Map showing the location of the Eastern Cape in the southern part of South Africa
Location of the Eastern Cape in South Africa
Country South Africa
Established 27 April 1994
Capital Bhisho
Largest city Port Elizabeth
Districts
Government
 • Type Parliamentary system
 • Premier Phumulo Masualle (ANC)
Area
 • Total 168,966 km2 (65,238 sq mi)
Area rank 2nd in South Africa
Highest elevation 3,019 m (9,905 ft)
Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 6,562,053
 • Estimate (2017) 6,498,700
 • Rank 4th in South Africa
 • Density 39/km2 (100/sq mi)
 • Density rank 6th in South Africa
Population groups
 • Black African 86.3%
 • Coloured 8.3%
 • White 4.7%
 • Indian or Asian 0.4%
Languages
 • Xhosa 78.8%
 • Afrikaans 10.6%
 • English 5.6%
 • Sotho 2.5%
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code ZA-EC
Website www.ecprov.gov.za

The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province. Landing place and home of the 1820 settlers, the central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the Xhosa people. This region is the birthplace of many prominent South African politicians, such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, Chris Hani, Thabo Mbeki, Steve Biko, Bantu Holomisa and Charles Coghlan.

The Eastern Cape as a South African Province came into existence in 1994 and incorporated areas from the former Xhosa homelands of the Transkei and Ciskei, together with what was previously part of the Cape Province. This resulted in several anomalies including the fact that the Province has four supreme courts (in Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Bhisho and Mthatha) and enclaves of KwaZulu-Natal in the province. The latter anomaly has fallen away with amendments to municipal and provincial boundaries.The province is also made of Mpondo clan, which primitively descended from Xhosa clan. Some of the Mpondo clan went to this province when they were running away from King Shaka's war. Mpondo people are more closely related to Xhosa, as they use Xhosa as their main home language.


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