Kimberley is a city, diamond-mining centre, and capital city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
Overview
| Country: | South Africa |
| Province: | Northern Cape |
| District: | Frances Baard |
| Municipality: | Sol Plaatje |
| Established: | 5 July 1873 |
| Nickname: | Diamond City |
| Total Area: | 142.77 km² (55.12 sq mi) |
| Population: | 96,977 (2011) |
| Population Density: | 679.25/km² (1,759.3/sq mi) |
| Time Zone: | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal Code (street): | 8301 |
| PO Box: | 8300 |
| Area Code: | 053 |
About Kimberley and it’s history
Kimberley is the largest city and capital of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Provincial Legislature and Provincial Administration for the Northern Cape.
Kimberley is also the seat of the Frances Baard District Municipality and Sol Plaatje Local Municipality.
Also known as the “Diamond City”, Kimberley is in the centre of South Africa with two national roads leading to it. The N12 (Cape Town via the N1 to the south and Pretoria/Johannesburg to the north) and the N8 going east to west.
Kimberley is located near the Free State province border, approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city also lies about 500 km or a five-hour drive from Johannesburg and 20 km east of Platfontein, where the !Xun and Khwe people were resettled after being evicted from Schmidtsdrift.
Kimberley was founded after the discovery of diamonds on farms in the area in 1866–71. The mining camp of Kimberley grew as a result of the intensive digging of the diamond-bearing pipe at the hill called Colesberg Koppie. The camp was named after John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, who was then British colonial secretary.
The town was initially known as New Rush before it was renamed to Kimberley (after then British Secretary of State for the Colonies Lord Kimberley). Kimberley was incorporated into the Cape Colony in 1880.
The first stock exchange in Africa was built in Kimberley as early as 1881.
On 2 September 1882, Kimberley was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere and the second in the world after Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States to integrate electric street lights into its infrastructure.
In 1885, the Cape Town Railway reached Kimberley.
In 1888, the De Beers diamond company, established by British businessman Cecil Rhodes, assumed control of the Kimberley Mine at Colesberg Koppie and most other mines in the area. Rhodes and fellow British businessman Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley.
Kimberley Mine (now called the Big Hole; 0.9 mile [1.5 km] in circumference), for so many years known as the richest diamond-producing mine in the world, was closed in 1914, but several other mines remain productive. Diamond mining and cutting remain prominent industries.
At the beginning of the Second Boer War (also called the Anglo-Boer War), Kimberley was besieged on 14 October 1899 by the Boers. The British forces trying to relieve the siege suffered heavy losses. The siege lasted 126 days and was lifted by Gen. John French on 15 February 1900, but the war continued until May 1902. By that time, the British had built a concentration camp at Kimberley to house Boer women and children.
In 1912, Kimberley was granted city status with the absorption of the mining town of Beaconsfield.
Kimberley’s gardens and squares are dotted with memorials, including an equestrian statue of Rhodes. Important collections of Khoisan artifacts are in the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, and the Duggan-Cronin Bantu Gallery contains early 20th-century photographs of African miners. The city has Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals.
Kimberley is the main city of Griqualand West. It is the market and service centre for a prosperous irrigated-farming and cattle-raising area. Iron, salt, and gypsum are also worked in the vicinity.
Kimberley’s main attraction is the Big Hole – a hand-dug hole the size of eight football fields. The Big Hole is actually one of the world’s largest holes excavated by hand.
Right next to the Big Hole is the Kimberley Mine Museum, which brings to life the way the city was during the bustling days of the diamond rush. Many of the buildings here are originals that have been moved over the years to this spot.
A few kilometres from the city centre lies Kimberley’s oldest residential suburb, Belgravia, which dates back to the 1870s. These homes were built at the peak of the diamond trade. This is where South Africa’s mining dynasty’s patriarch, Harry Oppenheimer, was born. It’s said that there were once more millionaires in this area than anywhere else in the world.
Kimberley is home to the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre, which showcases San art, both ancient rock art and contemporary creations. Not far away is the William Humphreys Art Gallery, specialising in South African artists but also offering a fine collection of 16th and 17th century Flemish, Dutch, English and French masters.
Kimberley is also home to the Magersfontein Battlefield, dating back to 1899, with its museum, which is about 30km from the Kimberley CBD.
Being the diamond capital of the world, Kimberley is well-known for its exquisite, individually crafted jewellery. When you visit, be sure to get yourself a precious personalised memento of your trip to Kimberley, the Diamond City.
Kimberley is home to the suburb of Beaconsfield and the township of Galeshewe.
