Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated <a href="/facts/Provinces_of_South_Africa/pkfEmsIg">province</a> of <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a>. It was created in 1994 when the <a href="/facts/Cape_Province/H4xFY2hY">Cape Province</a> was split up. Its capital is <a href="/facts/Kimberley%2c_South_Africa/YMyrwKlV">Kimberley</a>. It includes the <a href="/facts/Kalahari_Gemsbok_National_Park/2pQ97VCc">Kalahari Gemsbok National Park</a>, part of the <a href="/facts/Kgalagadi_Transfrontier_Park/2pQ97VCc">Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park</a> and an <a href="/facts/Transboundary_Protected_Area/Q3uTA4LU">international park</a> shared with <a href="/facts/Botswana/dGw6g94p">Botswana</a>. It also includes the <a href="/facts/Augrabies_Falls/JPRrMJf7">Augrabies Falls</a> and the diamond mining regions in Kimberley and <a href="/facts/Alexander_Bay%2c_Northern_Cape/Ar1UF1x3">Alexander Bay</a>.
The <a href="/facts/Namaqualand/GaKFA0wj">Namaqualand</a> region in the west is famous for its <a href="/facts/Dimorphotheca_sinuata/j78Q90MA">Namaqualand daisies</a>. The southern towns of <a href="/facts/De_Aar/QASsWYB5">De Aar</a> and <a href="/facts/Colesberg/VwMkSk7e">Colesberg</a> found within the <a href="/facts/Great_Karoo/ANscNmls">Great Karoo</a> are major transport nodes between <a href="/facts/Johannesburg/DQd9T8FY">Johannesburg</a>, <a href="/facts/Cape_Town/tFrIG1gz">Cape Town</a> and <a href="/facts/Gqeberha/R4h1I1Fc">Gqeberha</a>. <a href="/facts/Kuruman/9jvLHXR6">Kuruman</a> can be found in the north-east and is known as a <a href="/facts/Mission_(station)/ULLrNtdK">mission</a> station. It is also well known for its <a href="/facts/Artesian_spring/CASD2xqf">artesian spring</a> and <a href="/facts/Eye_of_Kuruman/Nmx1DGuu">Eye of Kuruman</a>. The <a href="/facts/Orange_River/TI4nbSob">Orange River</a> flows through the province, forming the borders with the <a href="/facts/Free_State_(South_African_province)/vnKmcuBA">Free State</a> in the southeast and with <a href="/facts/Namibia/ahXuaypy">Namibia</a> to the northwest. The river is also used to irrigate the many vineyards in the arid region near <a href="/facts/Upington/DxLAWEFT">Upington</a>.
Native speakers of <a href="/facts/Afrikaans/jYqEPHmA">Afrikaans</a> comprise a higher percentage of the population in the Northern Cape than in any other province. The Northern Cape's four official languages are Afrikaans, <a href="/facts/Tswana_language/W0bTgqBl">Tswana</a>, <a href="/facts/Xhosa_language/5D8WmHT0">Xhosa</a>, and <a href="/facts/South_African_English/5IIVeacu">English</a>. Minorities speak the other official languages of South Africa and a few people speak indigenous <a href="/facts/Khoisan_languages/2G4EF5vM">languages</a> such as <a href="/facts/Khoekhoe_language/G5IggysC">Nama</a> and <a href="/facts/Khwe_language/fNKyTBrb">Khwe</a>.
The provincial motto, Sa ǁa ǃaĩsi 'uĩsi ("We go to a better life"), is in the <a href="/facts/N%25C7%2580u/w9csCGqP">Nǀu</a> language of the Nǁnǂe (ǂKhomani) people. It was given in 1997 by one of the language's last speakers, Ms. <a href="/facts/Elsie_Vaalbooi/NAVQbcev">Elsie Vaalbooi</a> of <a href="/facts/Rietfontein/xUVDpzpW">Rietfontein</a>, who has since died. It was South Africa's first officially registered motto in a <a href="/facts/Khoisan_language/2G4EF5vM">Khoisan language</a>. Subsequently, South Africa's <a href="/facts/National_motto/7FJk9Kky">national motto</a>, ǃKe e ǀxarra ǁke, was derived from the extinct <a href="/facts/%25C7%2580Xam_language/Io2WKtF2">ǀXam language</a>.

Northern Cape open-in-new

Northern Cape