Uitenhage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Uitenhage
—  Town  —
Uitenhage is located in Eastern Cape
Uitenhage
Uitenhage is located in South Africa
Uitenhage
Coordinates: 33°46′S 25°24′E / 33.767°S 25.4°E / -33.767; 25.4Coordinates: 33°46′S 25°24′E / 33.767°S 25.4°E / -33.767; 25.4
Country South Africa
Province Eastern Cape
Municipality Nelson Mandela Bay
Area[1]
 • Total 84.77 km2 (32.73 sq mi)
Population (2001)[1]
 • Total 71,666
 • Density 845/km2 (2,190/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2001)[1]
 • Black African 13.8%
 • Coloured 58%
 • Indian/Asian 1.4%
 • White 26.8%
First languages (2001)[1]
 • Afrikaans 76.5%
 • English 11.5%
 • Xhosa 11.5%
 • Other 0.5%
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)

Uitenhage is a South African town with 275,185 inhabitants in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. The town's name is pronounced /ˈjuːtɨnheɪɡ/ by English speakers and [œjtənˈɦɑːxə] in Afrikaans. The city of Port Elizabeth and the small town of Despatch are located near Uitenhage.

Contents

[edit] History

Uitenhage was founded on 25 April 1804 by landdrost (district magistrate) Jacob Glen Cuyler and named in honour of the Cape's Commissioner-General Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist by the Dutch Cape Colony governor, Jan Willem Janssens.[2] Uitenhage formed from part of the district of Graaff Reinet (shortly after its short-lived secession) and in 1877 it became a municipality.

In 1985, police opened fire on a funeral procession in Uitenhage, killing a number of unarmed people, in an event that became notorious as an example of police oppression in South Africa under apartheid.[3][4]

In 2001 it was incorporated with Port Elizabeth and Despatch into the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

[edit] Industries

Uitenhage is known for the large industries situated there. The largest of these industries are the Volkswagen and Goodyear factories. An automotive supplier park, Alexander Park Industrial, has also been created directly next to the Volkswagen factory, thus allowing automotive component manufacturers to construct their manufacturing plants close by.

[edit] Notable people from Uitenhage

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages