Citrusdal is a town of 5,000 people in the Olifants River Valley in the Western Cape province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is situated at the base of the Cederberg mountains about north of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Agriculture in the area is dominated by citrus fruit farming, hence the town's name. Natural hot water springs occur in the area. It also has a high school named Cederberg Academy and a private school and two other primary schools and lots of creches.

History

Citrusdal was established in 1916 by the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk to serve the upper Olifants River valley. The church bought a portion of Middelpost farm, on which a township was laid out. A town council was established in 1957.

Demographics

In the 2001 Census the population of Citrusdal was recorded as 5,023 people in 1,401 households. 73% of the residents described themselves as " Coloured", 21% as "

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

" and 6% as "

Black African Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...

". The dominant language is

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, spoken as the

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

of 95% of the population, while 4% speak isiXhosa and 1% speak English.

Schools

The formerly Citrusdal High which is now the known Olifantsvallei Primary was dissolved in 2011.Making way for the now newly established high school Cederberg Academy in 2012. which is situated in the Olifants River Valley is a small school with approximately 350 students.

References

External links

Citrusdal Tourism Office

Cederberg Local Municipality
{{Authority control Populated places in the Cederberg Local Municipality Hot springs of South Africa Populated places established in 1916