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Eastern Cape Province | tyle="margin-left:inherit; font-size:larger;"|Eastern Cape | | olspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| | | b>Area | 169,580 km (13.9% of country's total) | | b>Population (2001) | 6,436,761 (14.4% of the total) | | b>GDP | 8.4% of the country's total | | b>Languages | Xhosa (83%), Afrikaans (9.6%), English (3.7%) | | b>Races | Black African 87.6%, Coloured 7.4%, Indian/Asian 0.3%, White 4.7% | | b>Capital | Bisho | | b>Other towns | Aliwal North, East London, Port Elizabeth, Umtata, Grahamstown See also:
List of cities and towns in the Eastern Cape | | b>Premier | Nosimo Balindlela | The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bisho. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, as well as the eastern portion of the Cape Province. It is the traditional home of the amaXhosa tribe, and the birthplace of many great South Africans, such as Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. Tourism The landscape is extremely diverse. The western interior is largely arid Karoo, while the east is well-watered and green. The Eastern Cape offers a wide array of attractions, including 800km of untouched and pristine coastline along with some of the world's best beaches, and "big-five" viewing in a malaria-free environment. The Addo Elephant National Park, situated 73km from Port Elizabeth, was proclaimed in 1931. Its 11718 ha offers sanctuary 170 elephants, the last Cape buffalo and 21 black rhino of the very scarce Kenyan sub-species. The province is the location of South Africa's only ski resort, Tiffindell, which is situated in the Southern Drakensberg on the slopes of the highest mountain peak in the Eastern Cape (3001m). The National Arts Festival, held in Grahamstown is Africa's largest and most colorful cultural event, offering a choice of the very best of both indigenous and imported talent. Every year for 11 days the town's population almost doubles, as over 50 000 people flock to the region for a feast of arts, crafts and sheer entertainment. The Tsitsikamma National Park is an 80 kilometre long coastal strip between Nature's Valley and the mouth of the Storms River. In the park the visitor finds an almost untouched natural landscape. Near the park is the Bloukrans Bridge, which is the world's highest bungee jump. Jeffrey's Bay is an area with some of the country's wildest coastline, which is backed by some of Africa's most spectacular sub-tropical rainforest. Famous for its "supertubes", probably South Africa's longest and most consistently good wave, it's charged with a surf vibe as relaxed as it is friendly, and this tends to soften the effect of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous set who have made this part of the coast their own. Aliwal North, lying on a splendid agricultural plateau on the southern bank of the Orange River, is one of the country's most popular inland resorts is famous for its hot springs. The rugged and unspoilt Wild Coast is a place of spectacular scenery, and a graveyard for many vessels. Economy The Eastern Cape remains one of the poorest provinces in South Africa. This is largely due to the extreme poverty found in the former homelands, where subsistence agriculture predominates. The two major industrial centres, Port Elizabeth and East London have well-developed economies, based on the automotive industry. General Motors and Volkswagen both have major assembly lines in the Port Elizabeth area, while East London is dominated by the large DaimlerChrysler plant. The largest construction project in Africa is currently underway at Coega, about 20km north of Port Elizabeth, where a new harbour is being built. It is expected that this development will give the province a major economic boost. There is a small exclave of Eastern Cape province completely surrounded by the neighbouring province of KwaZulu-Natal. Its main town is Umzimkulu. Municipalities The Eastern Cape Province is divided into forty-six municipalities:
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