Barkly West

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Barkly West
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Barkly West
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Barkly West
Coordinates: 28°32′17″S24°31′07″E / 28.53806°S 24.51861°E / -28.53806; 24.51861
Country South Africa
Province Northern Cape
District Frances Baard
Municipality Dikgatlong
Area
[1]
  Total
73.1 km2 (28.2 sq mi)
Population
 (2011) [1]
  Total
20,105
  Density280/km2 (710/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[1]
   Black African 71.7%
   Coloured 22.6%
   Indian/Asian 0.4%
   White 3.7%
  Other1.6%
First languages (2011)
[1]
   Tswana 60.3%
   Afrikaans 31.4%
   English 2.3%
   Sotho 1.8%
  Other4.1%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
8375
PO box
8375
Area code 053

Barkly West is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, situated on the north bank of the Vaal River west of Kimberley.

Contents

Establishment and naming

Barkly West was initially known as Klip Drift (sometimes written as Klipdrift). This Dutch name means "stony ford" and is a direct translation from a much older !Kora or Korana name, Ka-aub (or !a |aub) - "stony (place along a) river". [2] In 1870, it became the site of the first major diamond rush on the South African Diamond Fields. The surrounding area was briefly known as "Klipdrift Diggers' Republic" and the town was renamed Parkerton, in honor of Stafford Parker before colonial rule was extended there. It became, with Kimberley, one of the main towns in the Crown Colony of Griqualand West and was renamed Barkly West (see the article on New Rush). Like Barkly East, the town is named after Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner for Southern Africa from 1870 to 1877. [3] During the Anglo-Boer War the town was occupied by Boer forces and temporarily went by the name Nieuw Boshof. [4]

Barkly West is sometimes erroneously spelled as "Barkley-West" (even in road signage). In Afrikaans the town is known as Barkly-Wes. The local municipality, post-1994, is called Dikgatlong, part of the Frances Baard District Municipality.

Heritage sites

Notable residents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sum of the Main Places Barkly West and Mataleng from Census 2011.
  2. Van Vreeden, B.F. 1961. Die oorsprong en geskiedenis van plekname in Noord-Kaapland en die aangrensende gebiede. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand.
  3. Raper, P. E. (1989). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-947464-04-2 via Internet Archive.
  4. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa. 1970. Pretoria: Nasou Ltd. Vol 2, p 177
  5. Pressly, Canon G.N. 1971. St Mary's Centenary booklet.
  6. Morris, D. & Beaumont, P. 2004. Archaeology in the Northern Cape: some key sites. Kimberley: McGregor Museum
  7. Ashley's Adventure Tours: Exploring Barkly West and the Diamond Fields Archived September 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine