The Eastern Cape lies in the southeast of South Africa, bordered by the provinces of the Western Cape to the west, Northern Cape to the northwest, Free State to the north and KwaZulu-Natal to the east. The Kingdom of Lesotho is to the north of the province, and the Indian Ocean laps its shores to the south. The second-largest of South Africa’s nine provinces after the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape has a land area of 169 580 square kilometres, making it roughly the size of Uruguay.

The west is mostly semi-arid Karoo, except for the temperate rainforest of the coastal Tsitsikamma region in the far south. The coastline is known as the Wild Coast for its rough seas and rugged rocky outcrops, broken up by the occasional beach. The Eastern Cape is a mountainous province, particularly between Graaff-Reinet and Rhodes, with ranges that include the Sneeuberg, Stormberg, Winterberge and Drakensberg mountains (“berg” means “mountain” in Afrikaans). The highest point is Ben Macdhui near the town of Rhodes, a Drakensberg peak rising up 3 001m. The region from East London towards KwaZulu-Natal, known as the Transkei, has lush grassland with occasional forest, set in rolling hills and deep gorges.

Major towns in the Eastern Cape are Port Elizabeth and East London on the coast, both important harbours, and the provincial capital, Bhisho, inland near East London.

Economy
The Eastern Cape’s economy grew by 4.7% during 2007, and by 5% in 2006. The province’s economy, valued at R155.5-billion, contributed 7.8% to the national GDP in 2007.

In 2007, the largest industries in the economy were the finance, real estate and business services industry (20.7% of GDP), the general government services sector (18.4%) and manufacturing industry (16.4%). Mining and quarrying had the lowest contribution (0.2%) to GDP.

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