Cape Peninsula

Landsat Image over SRTM Elevation by NASA, showing the Cape Peninsula and Cape of Good Hope, South Africa in the foreground.[1]

Map showing the Cape Peninsula, illustrating the positions of the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point and Cape Town.

Map showing the locations of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas.

The Cape of Good Hope; looking towards the west, from the coastal cliffs above Cape Point.

One of the picturesque beaches of the Cape Peninsula. The green waters belong to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Cape Peninsula (Afrikaans: Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally rocky peninsula that juts out for 75 km (47 mi) into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On the northern end is Table Mountain, overlooking Cape Town, South Africa.

The peninsula was once an island, but about sixty million years ago it was joined to the mainland by the emergence from the sea of the sandy area now known as the Cape Flats. The towns and villages of the Cape Peninsula now form part of greater Cape Town.

The Cape of Good Hope is sometimes given as the meeting point of the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean. However, according to the International Hydrographic Organization agreement that defines the ocean boundaries, the meeting point is at Cape Agulhas, about 200 km (120 mi) to the southeast. [2]