Upington, Northern Cape
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Upington is a town founded in 1871 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was founded in 1884 and named after Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General of the Cape. It originated as a mission station established in 1875 and run by Reverend 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 recognizes 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. 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.
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[edit] Population
The //KharaHais municipality, which encompasses Upington and neighbouring settlements, has a population of 47,843, according to the 2001 Census. Of these, 64.4% were Coloured, 19.8% African, 15.7% White and 0.1% Asian. The city has a small Somali trading community. The white population is likely to have been undercounted, a general problem with the 2001 Census figures.
[edit] Geography and climate
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest recorded temperature (°C) | 42 | 42 | 41 | 38 | 34 | 29 | 29 | 33 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 43 | 43 | |
| Average daily maximum temperature (°C) | 36 | 34 | 32 | 28 | 24 | 21 | 21 | 23 | 27 | 30 | 33 | 35 | 29 | |
| Average daily minimum temperature (°C) | 20 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 13 | |
| Lowest recorded temperature (°C) | 10 | 9 | 5 | 2 | -2 | -5 | -6 | -7 | -2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -7 | |
| Average monthly precipitation (mm) | 24 | 35 | 37 | 26 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 17 | 189 | |
| Average number of rain days (>= 1 mm) | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 37 | |
| Source: South African Weather Service | ||||||||||||||
[edit] Wine Industry
Upington's most famous wines are produced by an organization generally know as Orange River Wine Cellars (OWC). The organization 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 OWC are exported, inter alia, to Europe and the USA. Dig a little deeper and you'll find privately owned cellars, producing quality red and white wines as well. Bezalel Dyasonsklip offers a variety of local treasures, such as low tanin red wines, 5 year old Pot-stilled brandy, a mampoer range and liquers. The Upington region accounts for more or less 40% of South Africa's grape exports.
[edit] Famous Upington people
- Alice Krige
- Scotty Smith - Robin Hood of the Kalahari
- Shaleen Surtie-Richards - Famous actress, starred in "Fiela se kind"
[edit] Transportation
Upington has a modern airport with scheduled flights provided by SA Airlink (an affiliate of South African Airways) and non-scheduled flights by Walker Flying Services.
In the first half of the 20th century there was a passenger train service from Cape Town to Upington but it is not clear whether this service is still in existence. Until the 1950's 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 was closed long ago.
[edit] Interesting facts
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
 4900m Runway |
 Golf Course |
- Upington Airport has the longest runway in Africa[citation needed] at 4,900 m (16076 ft)[1]
- Until the 1960s, the annual gliding world championships were held at the airport[citation needed].
- The airport remains very popular with "air tourists" who fly light aircraft, because the weather is very stable
- Die Eiland Holiday Resort in Upington has one of the longest and densest palm avenues in the southern hemisphere. The avenue of more than 200 date palms, planted 9m apart in 1935, is 1041m long[citation needed].
- Upington has the second longest railway bridge in Southern Africa (1 067 meter)[citation needed].
- South Africa built a test site for its atomic bomb programme at Vastrap, 75km north east of Upington.
