Melkbosstrand

Melkbosstrand
Beach at Melkbosstrand
Melkbosstrand Show map of Western Cape Melkbosstrand Show map of South Africa Melkbosstrand Show map of Africa  Melkbosstrand shown within Western Cape
Location within Cape Town  Melkbosstrand
Coordinates: 33°44′S 18°26′E / 33.733°S 18.433°E / -33.733; 18.433Coordinates: 33°44′S 18°26′E / 33.733°S 18.433°E / -33.733; 18.433
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Municipality	City of Cape Town
Government
• Councillor	Magrieta Jansen van Vuuren (DA)
Area
• Total	35.64 km2 (13.76 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	11,586
• Density	330/km2 (840/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	7.8%
• Coloured	10.0%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	80.5%
• Other	1.0%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	51.5%
• English	43.4%
• Xhosa	1.4%
• Other	3.8%
Postal code (street)	7441
PO box	7437
Area code	021

Melkbosstrand (Afrikaans for "Milkbush beach") is a coastal village and beach located on the South West Coast of South Africa, 35 km north of Cape Town.

Named after the species of Euphorbiaceae bushes which grow on the dunes and give off a milky latex like substance, it is commonly referred to simply as Melkbos. The town and its 7 kilometre stretch of white sand beach is situated on the Atlantic coast with the Blouberg mountain to the east. The beach is popular with surfers. It is notable for being one of the landing points for the South Africa-Far East and South Atlantic/West Africa submarine cable systems.

Melkbosstrand is along the Atlantic Seaboard and is the northern-most suburb of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality within which it became incorporated when metropolitan boundaries were redrawn, following the advent of democracy in 1994. Its nearest neighbouring towns are Bloubergstrand to the South (also a suburb of Cape Town) and Atlantis to the North-East. Melkbos is protected from urban development owing to its location in an expansive nature conservation zone to the South, insulating it from the Bloubergstrand sprawl, and the security buffer zones of Koeberg nuclear power station to the North. It remains a pristine seaside resort.

Melkbosstrand (previously known as Losperd's Bay) (meaning, in old Dutch: the Bay of Lost Horses) is the site of the famous Battle of Blaauwberg (1806) whereby the Cape ceased to be occupied by French-Batavian troops and became a Colony of the British Crown. The French had occupied the Cape from 1781-1783, after a fleet under the flag of celebrated admiral Bailli de Suffren anchored just north of Melkbosstrand. A cannon set on Melkbosstrand foreshore commemorates the battle itself. Numerous shipwrecks, some dating back to the Portuguese Discoverers of the Early Renaissance, are strewn along the coast of Melkbosstrand.