Bethelsdorp | |
Pushpin Map: | South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa |
Coordinates: | -33.8833°N 55°W |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
Subdivision Type1: | Province |
Subdivision Name1: | Eastern Cape |
Subdivision Type2: | District |
Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
Subdivision Name3: | Nelson Mandela Bay |
Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
Established Title: | Established |
Established Date: | 1803 |
Leader Title: | Councillor |
Area Footnotes: | [1] |
Area Total Km2: | 36.62 |
Population Total: | 182012 |
Population As Of: | 2011 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
Demographics1 Info1: | 34.1% |
Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
Demographics1 Info2: | 64.4% |
Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
Demographics1 Info3: | 0.6% |
Demographics1 Title4: | White |
Demographics1 Info4: | 0.2% |
Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
Demographics1 Info5: | 0.8% |
Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
Demographics2 Title1: | Afrikaans |
Demographics2 Info1: | 57.8% |
Demographics2 Title2: | Xhosa |
Demographics2 Info2: | 28.7% |
Demographics2 Title3: | English |
Demographics2 Info3: | 11.2% |
Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
Demographics2 Info5: | 2.3% |
Timezone1: | SAST |
Utc Offset1: | +2 |
Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
Postal Code: | 6059 |
Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
Postal2 Code: | 6003 |
Area Code Type: | Area code |
Area Code: | +27 (0)41 |
Bethelsdorp is a town in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, 20 km north-west of Port Elizabeth.
Established in 1803 by Rev. J.T. van der Kemp on the farm Roodepas of Theunis Botha as a mission station of the London Missionary Society. The name is derived from the Hebrew word Baitheel, meaning 'House of God'.[2]
Under the previous political dispensation, Bethelsdorp was a township almost exclusively inhabited by coloureds (Afrikaans: Kleurlinge). This changed somewhat with the end of Apartheid in South Africa in 1994, as living and trading in the township is now freely open to all races.