George, South Africa
George is the second largest city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality. It is named after the British Monarch George III.
The city is situated roughly halfway between Cape Town and Gqeberha on the Garden Route.[3] It is situated on a 10-kilometre plateau between the Outeniqua Mountains to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south. The former township of Pacaltsdorp, now a fully incorporated suburb, lies to the south.
Demographics[edit]
The 2001 census divided the urban area of George into four "main places": George proper, population 68,557;[14] Thembalethu, population 31,999;[15] Pacaltsdorp, population 18,285;[16] and Lawaaikamp, population 2,458.[17] This gives a total population of 121,299 in the urban area. 51.2% of these people were female and 48.8% were male.
Of the total urban population, 49.5% described themselves as Coloured, 29.3% as "Black African", 20.9% as "White", and 0.3% as "Indian or Asian". 65.4% spoke Afrikaans as their home language, 26.9% spoke Xhosa, 6.9% spoke English, and 0.9% spoke some other language.
The 1936 census recorded a total population 9,075 residents with 3,437 of them being recorded as "Coloured" and 5,195 recorded as "White".[18]
George has a sophisticated infrastructure with banks, conference facilities, businesses and shopping centres including the Garden Route Mall and Eden Meander, transport and sporting facilities, yet retains its small town atmosphere. The city is also a major accommodation centre.
George has numerous world-class golf courses, some designed by famous golfers. The most well-known is Fancourt Golf Estate, which hosted the Presidents Cup in 2003 and is often the host to high-profile golf tournaments.
Every December through 2010, top national rugby sevens teams from around the world came to Outeniqua Park for the South Africa Sevens, one of the tournaments in the IRB Sevens World Series. However, the tournament was moved to Port Elizabeth. December 2015 the Tournament was moved to the Green Point stadium in Cape Town.
George has many historical landmarks:
The First Class School for girls was started by Miss Christina Petronella van Niekerk, a "New Age" young lady with visions for the future which were very different from those ideas held by the conservative population of George.
George is often used a base to explore Tsitsikamma National Park.
The Outeniqua Choo Tjoe was South Africa's last scheduled mixed steam train service and operated on the Outeniqualand Preserved Railway between George and Knysna on the Garden Route. Opened in 1928 and declared a preserved line in July 1993, this train winds its way through picturesque scenery. However, after a landslide disrupted operations in 2007 service was maintained on the section between George, Hartenbos and Mossel Bay. In 2010 Transnet, the South African railway authority, decided to discontinue all operations of the Choo-Tjoe train.[19]
The Outeniqua Transport Museum houses a large collection of steam locomotives and carriages.
The Garden Route Botanical Garden is situated the top of Caledon Street. The Garden Route boasts the largest continuous natural forest area in South Africa, covering some 650 km2. Marketable timber is harvested from 20% of the State forest. Stinkwood, named for its unmistakable odour when freshly cut, is highly prized by the furniture industry, as are white pear, hard pear, ironwood and assegaai. The most sought after timber is the outeniqua yellowwood (Podocarpus falcatus).
Education[edit]
Primary and secondary education[edit]
Schools include the Afrikaans-medium George High School established in 1947 and Hoërskool Outeniqua established in 1923. The English medium school is York High School and there is also a double medium technical school named Eden Technical High School (formerly PW Botha College). Several independent schools have been established such as Glenwood House, an English medium co-ed school from Grade 000 to Grade 12.
Tertiary education[edit]
George is the tertiary hub of the Southern Cape, with some public and private institutions providing education at various campuses.
Tallest structures[edit]
The majority of structures in George are limited to low-mid rise development, most of which is in the commercial sector. The tallest structure in George is the Sentech Tower, which is a radio and television transmitter tower located at the foot of the Outeniqua mountains (33°55′39″S 22°27′1″E / 33.92750°S 22.45028°E) This is followed by the Telkom Tower located in the George CBD and the FAGG Radar Tower (55m) located at the George Airport.
The tallest building in George is the airport radar tower. The concrete tower stands at 45m and 8 storeys (including the spherical radome, it stands at 55m). The George Medi-Clinic building (previously Lamprecht Clinic) stands at 40m and 8 storeys.