Map - Robben Island (Robben Island)

Robben Island (Robben Island)
Robben Island (Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (robben), hence the Dutch/Afrikaans name Robbeneiland, which translates to Seal(s) Island.

Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 km long north–south, and 1.9 km wide, with an area of 5.08 km2. It is flat and only a few metres above sea level, as a result of an ancient erosion event. It was fortified and used as a prison from the late-seventeenth century until 1996, after the end of apartheid.

Political activist and lawyer Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on the island for 18 of the 27 years of his imprisonment before the fall of apartheid and introduction of full, multi-racial democracy. He was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was elected in 1994 as President of South Africa, becoming the country's first black president and serving one term from 1994–1999. In addition, the majority of prisoners were detained here for political reasons. Two other former inmates of Robben Island, in addition to Mandela, have been elected to the presidency since the late-1990s: Kgalema Motlanthe (2008–2009) and Jacob Zuma (2009–2018).

Robben Island is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Located at the entrance to Table Bay, 11 km from Cape Town, this island, was discovered by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 and, for many years, it was used by Portuguese navigators, later by English and Dutch as a refueling station. Its current name means “seal island”, in Dutch.

In 1654, the settlers of the Dutch Cape Colony placed all of their ewes and a few rams on Robben Island, and the men built a large shed and a shelter. The isolation offered better protection against wild animals than on the mainland. The settlers also collected seal skins and boiled oil to supply the needs of the settlement.

Since the end of the 17th century, Robben Island has been used for the incarceration of chiefly political prisoners. The Dutch settlers were the first to use Robben Island as a prison. The island's first prisoner was probably Autshumato in the mid-17th century. Among its early permanent inhabitants were political leaders imprisoned from other Dutch colonies, including the Dutch East Indies, and the leader of the mutiny on the slave ship Meermin.

After the British Royal Navy captured several Dutch East Indiamen at the battle of Saldanha Bay in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1781, a boat rowed out to meet the British warships. On board were the "kings of Ternate and Tidore, and the princes of the respective families". The Dutch had long held them on "Isle Robin", but then had moved them to Saldanha Bay.

In 1806, the Scottish whaler John Murray opened a whaling station at a sheltered bay on the north-eastern shore of the island, which became known as Murray's Bay. It was adjacent to the site of the present-day harbour named Murray's Bay Harbour, which was constructed in 1939–40.

After a failed uprising at Grahamstown in 1819, the fifth of the Xhosa Wars, the British colonial government sentenced African leader Makanda Nxele to life imprisonment on the island. He drowned on the shores of Table Bay after escaping the prison. 
Map - Robben Island (Robben Island)
Map
Google Earth - Map - Robben Island
Google Earth
Openstreetmap - Map - Robben Island
Openstreetmap
Map - Robben Island - Esri.WorldImagery
Esri.WorldImagery
Map - Robben Island - Esri.WorldStreetMap
Esri.WorldStreetMap
Map - Robben Island - OpenStreetMap.Mapnik
OpenStreetMap.Mapnik
Map - Robben Island - OpenStreetMap.HOT
OpenStreetMap.HOT
Map - Robben Island - OpenTopoMap
OpenTopoMap
Map - Robben Island - CartoDB.Positron
CartoDB.Positron
Map - Robben Island - CartoDB.Voyager
CartoDB.Voyager
Map - Robben Island - OpenMapSurfer.Roads
OpenMapSurfer.Roads
Map - Robben Island - Esri.WorldTopoMap
Esri.WorldTopoMap
Map - Robben Island - Stamen.TonerLite
Stamen.TonerLite
Country - South_Africa
Flag of South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2798 km of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of 1221037 km2. South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg.

About 80% of the population are Black South Africans. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White South Africans), Asian (Indian South Africans and Chinese South Africans), and multiracial (Coloured South Africans) ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution's recognition of 11 official languages, the fourth-highest number in the world. According to the 2011 census, the two most spoken first languages are Zulu (22.7%) and Xhosa (16.0%). The two next ones are of European origin: Afrikaans (13.5%) developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most Coloured and White South Africans; English (9.6%) reflects the legacy of British colonialism and is commonly used in public and commercial life.
Map - South AfricaUn-south-africa.png
Un-south-africa.png
3037x2257
freemapviewer.org
Map - South AfricaComposite_satellite_image_of_South_Africa_in_November_2002.jpg
Composite_satellite_...
6533x5760
freemapviewer.org
Map - South Africaimage.jpg
image.jpg
1397x1846
freemapviewer.org
Map - South AfricaSouth_Africa_Topography.jpg
South_Africa_Topogra...
1578x1457
freemapviewer.org
Map - South AfricaSouth_Africa-Regions_map.jpg
South_Africa-Regions...
2000x1501
freemapviewer.org
Neighbourhood - Country  
  •  Botswana 
  •  Lesotho 
  •  Mozambique 
  •  Namibia 
  •  Swaziland 
  •  Zimbabwe