City of Cape Town, Metropolitan municipality in Western Cape, South Africa
The City of Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality in Western Cape, South Africa, extending along the coast between the Atlantic and Table Mountain. The area includes densely populated neighborhoods, industrial zones, rural settlements, and protected natural land.
The city received municipal status in 1839 and grew by absorbing surrounding settlements. In 2000, ten separate administrative units merged into a single metropolitan region.
The name comes from the Dutch colonial period, when sailors used the flat-topped mountain as a navigation landmark. Today people from different communities live together, and their languages and habits show in street markets, places of worship, and residential neighborhoods.
The region is best explored by neighborhood, as distances between outer coastal towns and the center are large. Public transport and rental cars help reach different areas.
The country's parliament building stands here, making the metropolitan region one of South Africa's three capital cities. The coastline covers several climate zones, from the warm Indian Ocean influence to cool Atlantic waters.
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