Queenstown, South Africa

Queenstown Komani
Queenstown City Hall
Nickname(s): Rose Capital of South Africa
Queenstown Show map of Eastern Cape Queenstown Show map of South Africa Queenstown Show map of Africa  Queenstown shown within Eastern Cape
Coordinates: 31°54′S 26°53′E / 31.900°S 26.883°E / -31.900; 26.883Coordinates: 31°54′S 26°53′E / 31.900°S 26.883°E / -31.900; 26.883
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Chris Hani
Municipality	Enoch Mgijima
Established	1853
Area
• Total	71.3 km2 (27.5 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	68,872
• Density	970/km2 (2,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	81.8%
• Coloured	10.0%
• Indian/Asian	1.1%
• White	6.5%
• Other	0.6%
First languages (2011)
• Xhosa	75.2%
• Afrikaans	13.8%
• English	7.3%
• Other	3.7%
Postal code (street)	5320
PO box	5319
Area code	045

Queenstown, named after Queen Victoria, is a town in the middle of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, roughly halfway between the smaller towns of Cathcart and Sterkstroom. It is currently the commercial, administrative, and educational centre of the prosperous surrounding farming district. The nickname of the town, 'Rose Capital of South Africa', comes from the large gardens and open places for flowers (especially roses) in and around town.

The city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Queenstown. Churches of all faith denominations are to be found in and around Queenstown.

The town was founded in early 1853 under the direction of Sir George Cathcart, who named the settlement, and then fort, after Queen Victoria. Work on its railway connection to East London on the coast was begun by the Cape government of John Molteno in 1876, and the line was officially opened on 19 May 1880. The town prospered from its founding up to the worldwide depression of the 1930s, and again thereafter. In the 1960s, the majority of the Black population were moved east to the township of Ezibeleni, as part of the attempt to move African people to so-called "homelands". The area has in the past had very severe weather problems, luckily, often only affecting the surrounding areas. In 2002, heavy snowfall around Queenstown caused a severe disaster, especially since the area was not funded or ready for such a disaster. Then, in 2004, the surrounding areas of the Eastern Cape were affected by strong winds and heavy rainfall, although Queenstown once again escaped much flooding and some wind damage, power shortages soon followed. Other natural disasters include droughts and veld fires (wild fires).