Victoria West

Victoria West Victoria-Wes
Dutch Reformed Church, Victoria West
Seal
Victoria West Show map of Northern Cape Victoria West Show map of South Africa Victoria West Show map of Africa  Victoria West shown within Northern Cape
Coordinates: 31°24′11″S 23°07′14″E / 31.40306°S 23.12056°E / -31.40306; 23.12056Coordinates: 31°24′11″S 23°07′14″E / 31.40306°S 23.12056°E / -31.40306; 23.12056
Country	South Africa
Province	Northern Cape
District	Pixley ka Seme
Municipality	Ubuntu
Established	1844
Area
• Total	78.95 km2 (30.48 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	8,254
• Density	100/km2 (270/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	23.7%
• Coloured	69.3%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	5.6%
• Other	0.9%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	82.1%
• Xhosa	13.8%
• English	1.1%
• Other	3.0%
Postal code (street)	7070
PO box	7070
Area code	053

Victoria West is a town in the central Karoo region of South Africa's Northern Cape province.

The town was laid out on the bank of the Brakrivier watercourse in 1843, when the Dutch Reformed Church bought the farm Zeekoegat from a local farmer. It was named Victoria in 1844, after Queen Victoria, though amended to Victoria West in 1855 to distinguish it from an Eastern Cape district. The Cape Government Railways oversaw a massive expansion in the Cape Colony's railway system in the 1870s, though the route to Victoria West was only completed in 1881. The railway connection spurred economic development and the town's demographic growth over the following decades.

It is situated on the main N12 route, at an elevation of 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). It is the seat of the Ubuntu Local Municipality within the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality.

The town has a small airport (ICAO: FAVW), used only by light aircraft, but until the 1970s when they stopped operating piston engined airliners such as the Douglas DC-3, it was a refueling stop for South African Airways between Cape Town and destinations to the north.