Sutherland, Northern Cape

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Sutherland is a town located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.

It is known for having some of the clearest and darkest night skies in the world, primarily due to its remote and arid location as well as its altitude of 1 458 metres above sea level. For this reason, Sutherland hosts the telescopes of the South African Astronomical Observatory nearby at 32°22′46″S 20°48′38.5″E / -32.37944, 20.810694 (SAAO), which includes the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere.^{[citation needed]}

Sutherland is also known as being one of the coldest towns in South Africa (although Buffelsfontein holds the official honour^[1]), with winter snow a common occurrence. The coldest temperature recorded in Sutherland was -16ºC, on 12 July 2003. The average yearly temperature is 11.8ºC, with an average minimum yearly temperature of 3.4ºC

The town has recently gained in popularity, with many Capetonians buying property in the town and many more visiting on weekends and vacations.

[edit] See also

• South African Astronomical Observatory

[edit] External links

• SALT home page
• Sutherland Tourism

Coordinates: 32°23′37″S 20°39′41″E / -32.39361, 20.66139 (Sutherland)

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