Upington
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
| Upington | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of Upington's Central Business District
|
|
 Upington
Upington shown within Northern Cape |
|
| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Northern Cape |
| District | ZF Mgcawu |
| Municipality | Khara Hais |
| Established | 1873[1] |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local Municipality |
| • Mayor | Limakatso Koloi[2] (ANC) |
| Area[3] | |
| • Total | 580.8 km2 (224.2 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[3] | |
| • Total | 74,834 |
| • Density | 130/km2 (330/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011)[3] | |
| • Black African | 25.6% |
| • Coloured | 62.6% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.6% |
| • White | 10.1% |
| • Other | 1.1% |
| First languages (2011)[3] | |
| • Afrikaans | 85.5% |
| • Xhosa | 6.1% |
| • Tswana | 3.2% |
| • English | 2.1% |
| • Other | 3.1% |
| Postal code (street) | 8800 |
| PO box | 8800 |
| Area code | +27 (0)54 |
| Website | www www |
Upington is a town founded in 1884 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olyfenhoudtsdrif ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees in the area, but later renamed after Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General and then Prime Minister of the Cape. It originated as a mission station established in 1875 and run by Reverend Christiaan Schröder. The mission station now houses the town museum, known as the Kalahari Orange Museum. The museum is also the home of a donkey statue, which recognises the enormous contribution that this animal made to the development of the region during the pioneering days of the 19th century.
The elevation of Upington is 2742 feet (835 metres). It is the closest large centre to the Augrabies Falls (arguably the greatest of South African waterfalls) and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The landscape is very arid but the soil is fertile and crops such as fruit are grown in irrigated fields. The area is best known for its export-quality grapes, raisins and wines, which are cultivated on the rich flood plains of the Orange river.
Contents
Wine Industry
Upington's most famous wines are produced by an organisation generally known as Orange River Cellars (ORC). The organisation has six depots in the area (all of them on the banks of the Orange River) at Upington, Kanoneiland, Grootdrink, Kakamas, Keimoes and Groblershoop. The wines from ORC are exported, inter alia, to Europe and the USA.
Transportation
Upington has a modern airport with scheduled flights provided by SA Airlink (an affiliate of South African Airways).[4] One of the airport's runways is 4900m in length.[5]
In the first half of the 20th century there was a passenger train service from Cape Town to Upington. Until the 1950s a narrow-gauge railway line (two-foot gauge) ran from Upington to Kakamas and Keimoes, two nearby towns. The trains carried passengers and freight, being mainly dried fruit. The line to Kakamas was still in use during the November 2010 grape harvest season.[6]
Geography and climate
| Upington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate chart (explanation) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Upington is located on the northern banks of the Orange River and is surrounded by irrigated vineyards.[8] The hottest month of the year is January, with average daily temperatures swinging from 36 °C (97 °F) to Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value)., while in the coolest month of July temperatures range between Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value). and Lua error in Module:Convert at line 272: attempt to index local 'cat' (a nil value)..[7] Also the dryest month of the year, July sees an average rainfall of only 2 millimetres (0.079 in), while the wettest month of March sees 37 millimetres (1.5 in). Upington has been noted as being the sunniest location on the planet for three months of the year, from November through January. [9]
| Climate data for Upington (1961−1990) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 42.3 (108.1) |
42.3 (108.1) |
40.7 (105.3) |
38.1 (100.6) |
33.7 (92.7) |
29.3 (84.7) |
28.8 (83.8) |
33.1 (91.6) |
39.3 (102.7) |
40.1 (104.2) |
41.3 (106.3) |
43.0 (109.4) |
43.0 (109.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 35.5 (95.9) |
34.4 (93.9) |
32.1 (89.8) |
27.8 (82) |
24.0 (75.2) |
20.5 (68.9) |
20.8 (69.4) |
22.9 (73.2) |
26.8 (80.2) |
29.6 (85.3) |
32.7 (90.9) |
34.7 (94.5) |
28.5 (83.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.8 (82) |
26.9 (80.4) |
24.7 (76.5) |
20.2 (68.4) |
15.7 (60.3) |
12.1 (53.8) |
11.9 (53.4) |
14.0 (57.2) |
18.1 (64.6) |
21.4 (70.5) |
24.7 (76.5) |
26.9 (80.4) |
20.4 (68.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 19.8 (67.6) |
19.5 (67.1) |
17.8 (64) |
13.3 (55.9) |
8.3 (46.9) |
4.8 (40.6) |
4.1 (39.4) |
5.6 (42.1) |
9.4 (48.9) |
12.9 (55.2) |
16.3 (61.3) |
18.6 (65.5) |
12.5 (54.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.3 (50.5) |
8.6 (47.5) |
5.0 (41) |
1.7 (35.1) |
−2.2 (28) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
−5.7 (21.7) |
−5.3 (22.5) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
1.8 (35.2) |
5.4 (41.7) |
8.9 (48) |
−5.7 (21.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 24 (0.94) |
35 (1.38) |
37 (1.46) |
26 (1.02) |
10 (0.39) |
4 (0.16) |
2 (0.08) |
4 (0.16) |
4 (0.16) |
9 (0.35) |
17 (0.67) |
17 (0.67) |
189 (7.44) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 24 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 33 | 39 | 44 | 49 | 49 | 50 | 45 | 39 | 35 | 33 | 31 | 30 | 40 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 352.9 | 298.7 | 297.5 | 283.5 | 290.5 | 270.3 | 289.8 | 307.3 | 300.2 | 328.9 | 345.2 | 367.0 | 3,731.8 |
| Source #1: NOAA[10] | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: South African Weather Service[7] | |||||||||||||
Notable natives and residents
- Alice Krige – South African actress
- Chris Brink – Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University (former Vice-Chancellor and Rector of Stellenbosch University)
- Ruben Cloete – South African football player
Gallery
-
4900m Runway
-
Golf Course
-
View from "Die Eiland" Holiday Resort
See also
- Vastrap, South Africa's former nuclear weapons test range.
Sister city
Patos de Minas, Brazil
References
- ↑ Upington
- ↑ Khara Hais website
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Sum of the Main Places Upington and Paballelo from Census 2011.
- ↑ South African Airways
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2011/01/flood-at-upington/
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
 |
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for [[Wikivoyage:Upington#Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 863: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Upington]]. |
- Additional information about Upington Airport
- The Orange River Wine Cellars Home Page
- Upington Business Directory
|
Province of the Northern Cape
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| Topics |
 |
|
| Government | ||
| Regions | ||
| Cities and major towns |
||
.svg){kind=link}