WEB REF #: GO
The Western Cape is made up of Cape
Town, the West Coast, the Breede River Valley, the Winelands, the
Central Karoo, the Klein Karoo, the Overberg and the Garden Route.
The cosmopolitan city of Cape
Town is the capital of the Western Cape and the city through which
most visitors enter the province.
Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek, Worcester and Robertson are the major
towns of the Winelands region. Stellenbosch is a beautiful university
town with many stunning examples of Cape Dutch architecture. The wine
estates of the region attract both wine lovers and tourists.
The Western Cape is topographically and climatically varied. It has a
temperate southern coastline fringed with mountains. Here the typical
vegetation, especially in the western section, is the famed fynbos. To
the north it stretches deep into the Karoo plateau. The western coast
is extremely dry.
The winter rainfall of the peninsula and its mountainous neighbouring
inland area provides ideal conditions for the cultivation of grapes, with
numerous vineyards producing excellent wines. Other fruit and vegetables
are also grown here, and north and east of Cape Town wheat is an important
crop.
The southern coastal area is also fertile. Fishing is the most important
industry along the west coast.
The southern coastline's major centres include Mossel Bay, George and
Knysna, all of which benefit from the tourist attraction of a beautiful
coastal strip that includes a lake area. This southern coast has year-round
rainfall.
