Overberg District Municipality - Geography

Geography

The Overberg municipal area covers 12,241 square kilometres (4,726 sq mi) lying to the south-east of Cape Town. It stretches from the Hottentots-Holland mountains in the west to the Breede River mouth in the east, and as far as the Riviersonderend Mountains in the north. It includes Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point in Africa, and has coastline on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean.

The largest town is Grabouw (pop. 21,593) in the Elgin Valley adjacent to the Hottentots-Holland on the north-western edge of the district. The municipal headquarters are located at Bredasdorp (pop. 12,749) in the southern part of the district. Other major towns are Swellendam (pop. 13,557) on the Breede River in the north-east, Caledon (pop. 10,650) in the western interior, and Hermanus (pop. 10,500) on the Atlantic coast.

The Overberg district is divided into four local municipalities, which are described in the following table.

Name Code Seat Population (2007 est.) Area (km2) Density (inhabitants/km2)
Theewaterskloof Local Municipality WC031 Caledon 86,719 3,232 26.8
Overstrand Local Municipality WC032 Hermanus 74,547 1,708 43.6
Cape Agulhas Local Municipality WC033 Bredasdorp 28,688 3,467 8.3
Swellendam Local Municipality WC034 Swellendam 22,833 3,835 6.0
Total 212,787 12,242 17.4

It borders on the City of Cape Town to the west, the Cape Winelands District Municipality to the north, and the Eden District Municipality to the east.

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