Upington, Northern Cape - orange.procutin.com

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Country	South Africa
Upington
Upington from the air
Motto: Progressus (Progress)
Coordinates: 28°24′S 21°16′E / -28.4, 21.267
Province	Northern Cape
Established	1884^[1]
Government
- Mayor	Maropene Ntuli^[2]
Elevation	836 m (2,743 ft)
Population (2007)
- Total	101,504
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)

Upington is a town founded in 1884 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was 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.

1 Population
2 Geography and climate
3 Wine Industry
4 Famous Upington people
5 Transportation
6 Gallery
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Population

The Khara Hais municipality, which encompasses Upington and neighbouring settlements, has a population of 101,504^[3], according to the 2008 calculation. Of these, 64.4% were Coloured, 19.8% African, 15.7% White and 0.1% Asian. The city has a small Somali trading community.

[edit] Geography and climate

**Climate Table**
	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 - South African Actress
Scotty Smith - South African Bandit, "Robin Hood of the Kalahari"
Shaleen Surtie-Richards - South African Actress

[edit] Transportation

Upington

Upington (South Africa)

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. The airport's runway, spanning 4900m^[4], is one of the longest in the world and the longest in Africa. Until the 1960s, the airport was also the sight of the annual gliding world championships^{[citation needed]}.

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 1950s 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.