Durban (Zulu: eThekwini) is the third largest city in South Africa, forming
part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. It is the largest city in
KwaZulu-Natal and is famous as the busiest port in Africa. It is also a
major centre of tourism due to the city's warm subtropical climate and
beaches.
According to the 2007 Community Survey, the city has a population of almost
3.5 million. Durban's land area of 2,292 square kilometers (884.9 sq mi) is
comparatively larger than other South African cities, resulting in a
somewhat lower population density of 1,513 inhabitants per square kilometre
(3,918.7/sq mi).
History
It is thought that the first known inhabitants of the Durban area arrived
from the north around 100,000 BC, according to carbon dating of rock art
found in caves in the Drakensberg. These people were living in the central
plains of KwaZulu-Natal until the expansion of Bantu people from the north
sometime during the last millennium.
Little is known of the history of the first residents, as there is no
written history of the area before it was first mentioned by Portuguese
explorer Vasco da Gama, who came to the KwaZulu-Natal coast while searching
for a route from Europe to India. He landed on the KwaZulu-Natal coast on
Christmas in 1497, and thus named the area "Natal", or Christmas in
Portuguese.
The modern city of Durban dates from 1824, when a party of 25 men under
British Lieutenant F. G. Farewell arrived from the Cape Colony and
established a settlement on the northern shore of the Bay of Natal, near
today's Farewell Square. Accompanying Farewell was an adventurer named Henry
Francis Fynn (1803–1861). Fynn was able to befriend the Zulu King Shaka by
helping him to recover from a stab wound he suffered in battle. As a token
of Shaka's gratitude, he granted Fynn a "25-mile strip of coast a hundred
miles in depth."
During a meeting of 35 white residents in Fynn's territory on June 23, 1835,
it was decided to build a capital town and name it "d'Urban" after Sir
Benjamin d'Urban, then governor of the Cape Colony.
Fierce conflict with the Zulu population led to the evacuation of Durban,
and eventually the Afrikaners accepted British annexation in 1844 under
military pressure.
A British governor was appointed to the region and many settlers emigrated
from Europe and the Cape Colony. The British established a sugar cane
industry in the 1860s. Farm owners had a difficult time attracting Zulu
labourers to work on their plantations, so the British brought thousands of
indentured labourers from India on five-year contracts. As a result of the
importation of Indian labourers, Durban became the largest Asian community
in South Africa.
Durban today
Today, Durban is the busiest container port in Africa, and a popular tourist
destination. The Golden Mile, developed as a welcoming tourist destination
in the 1970s, as well as Durban at large, provide ample tourist attractions,
particularly for people on holiday from Johannesburg. It lost its
international holiday pre-eminence to Cape Town in the 1990s, but remains
more popular among domestic tourists. The city is also a gateway to the
national parks and historic sites of Zululand and the Drakensberg.
Geography and climate
Durban is characterised by a mild subtropical climate with warm wet summers
and mild moist to dry winters, which are frost-free. However, due to large
altitude variations, some western suburbs get slightly chilly in the winter.
Durban has an annual rainfall of 1,009 millimetres (39.7 in) The average
annual temperature is 210C, with daytime maxima peaking from January to
March at 28 °C (82 °F) and the minimum is 21 °C (70 °F), dropping to daytime
highs from June to August of 23 °C (73 °F) and the minimum is 11 °C (52 °F).
Sunrise in Durban is at 04h45 *(04h15) and sunset is 19h00 *(19h30) in
summer & rise at 06h30 *(06h10) and set at 17h20 *(17h00) in winter. (* =
dawn and dusk)
The metropolitan area is topographically hilly, with very few flat areas,
except in the immediate vicinity of the central business district and the
harbour. The western suburbs off Hillcrest and Kloof are significantly
higher above sea-level, reaching up to 850 metres (2,789 ft) in the
community of Botha's Hill. Many gorges and ravines are found within the
metropolitan area. There is almost no true coastal plain.
Rickshaws
Durban is also famous for its iconic Zulu Rickshaw pullers navigating throughout the city. These colourful characters are famous for their giant, vibrant hats and costumes. Although they have been a mode of transportation since the early 1900s, they mostly cater to tourists.
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