Umzimkhulu

Umzimkhulu is a town in Harry Gwala District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

Umzimkhulu
Umzimkhulu Umzimkhulu
Coordinates: 30.263°S 29.940°E
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Harry Gwala
Municipality	Umzimkhulu
• Councillor	(ANC)
Area [1]
• Total	4.55 km^2 (1.76 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	8,399
• Density	1,800/km^2 (4,800/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	95.1%
• Coloured	3.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• Other	0.9%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Zulu	47.2%
• Xhosa	41.5%
• English	5.5%
• Afrikaans	1.3%
• Other	4.5%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	3297
PO box	3297
Area code	039

The town lies 243 km north-east of Mthatha and 18 km south-west of Ixopo. It developed from a trading-post and was laid out in 1884. Takes its name from the Mzimkulu River on which it is situated; zulu (bhaca) for 'big place', 'large home' of the waters.[2]

Until 1 March 2006, the town was part of an exclave of the Eastern Cape, before being transferred to KwaZulu-Natal as part of the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa.

References

1. "Main Place Umzimkhulu". Census 2011.
2. "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 445.