Paarl

Paarl
Aerial view of Paarl, looking in a south-easterly direction
Paarl Show map of Western Cape Paarl Show map of South Africa Paarl Show map of Africa  Paarl shown within Western Cape
Coordinates: 33°43′27″S 18°57′21″E / 33.72417°S 18.95583°E / -33.72417; 18.95583Coordinates: 33°43′27″S 18°57′21″E / 33.72417°S 18.95583°E / -33.72417; 18.95583
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	Cape Winelands
Municipality	Drakenstein
Established	1687
Area
• Total	64.61 km2 (24.95 sq mi)
Elevation	120 m (390 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	112,045
• Density	1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	10.4%
• Coloured	69.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	17.9%
• Other	1.3%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	86.8%
• English	6.2%
• Xhosa	4.6%
• Other	2.4%
Postal code (street)	7646
PO box	7620
Area code	021

Paarl (/ˈpɑːrl/; Afrikaans: [ˈpɑːrəl]; derived from Parel, meaning Pearl in Dutch) is a city with 191,013 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third oldest town and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch) and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington. It is situated about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province and is renowned for its haunting scenic beauty and deep viticulture and fruit growing heritage.

Paarl is the seat of the Drakenstein Local Municipality; although not part of the Cape Town metropolitan area, it falls within its economic catchment. Paarl is unusual in South Africa in that the name of the place is pronounced differently in English and Afrikaans. An unusual feature of the name of the town is that Afrikaners customarily attach the definite article to it: people say in die Paarl ("in the Paarl"), rather than in Paarl.

Paarl gained international attention when, on 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Correctional Centre (now known as Drakenstein Correctional Centre) in Paarl ending 27 years of imprisonment and beginning the march to South Africa's post-apartheid era and multi-racial elections. Mandela spent three years in prison here living in a private house within the walls. Today, a bronze statue of Mandela stands outside the prison, where he still resides to this day.