Bethelsdorp | |
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![]() Almshouses, Alms Street, Bethelsdorp | |
Coordinates: 33°53′S 25°30′E / 33.883°S 25.500°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Eastern Cape |
Municipality | Nelson Mandela Bay |
Established | 1803 |
Area | |
• Total | 36.62 km2 (14.14 sq mi) |
Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 182,012 |
• Density | 5,000/km2 (13,000/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 34.1% |
• Coloured | 64.4% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.6% |
• White | 0.2% |
• Other | 0.8% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 57.8% |
• Xhosa | 28.7% |
• English | 11.2% |
• Other | 2.3% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 6059 |
PO box | 6003 |
Area code | +27 (0)41 |
Bethelsdorp is a town in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, 20 km north-west of Port Elizabeth.
History
[edit]Established in 1803 by Rev. J.T. van der Kemp on the farm Roodepas of Theunis Botha as a mission station of the London Missionary Society. The name is derived from the Hebrew word Baitheel, meaning 'House of God'.[2]
Under the previous political dispensation, Bethelsdorp was a township almost exclusively inhabited by coloureds (Afrikaans: Kleurlinge). This changed somewhat with the end of Apartheid in South Africa in 1994, as living and trading in the township is now freely open to all races.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Main Place Bethelsdorp". Census 2011.
- ^ "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 78.