Table Bay

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Table Bay

bay, South Africa

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Robben IslandRobben Island in Table Bay, north of Cape Town, South Africa, was once home to a maximum-security prison but later became an important tourism venue, with a museum, a lighthouse, and other attractions, and was designated a World Heritage site in 1999.

Table Bay, bay of the Atlantic Ocean, located near the southern tip of Africa and forming the harbour of Cape Town. Extending north from Cape Town to Melkbosstrand, South Africa, the bay is 12 miles (19 km) long and 8 miles wide; it contains Robben Island and is overlooked by Table Mountain. Portuguese navigators were the first Europeans to see the bay (c. 1500). Although it was less well sheltered than other bays along the coast, it was favoured by the availability of fresh water and therefore became a place of call for ships voyaging to India and the East. The shore was permanently settled (1652) by the Dutch.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Letricia Dixon.

Robben Island

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Robben Island

island, South Africa

Also known as: Robbeneiland

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Afrikaans:: Robbeneiland

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Robben Island, island in Table Bay, Western Cape province, South Africa. It is 5 miles (8 km) west of the mainland and 6 miles (10 km) north of Cape Town and has an approximate area of 5 square miles (13 square km). Its name is the Dutch word for “seals,” once plentiful in the surrounding waters. The island was a common stopping point for passing ships in the 16th and early 17th centuries. After early efforts at settlement, it was made a Dutch and then a British penal colony. The island housed a leper colony from 1846 to 1931, and those judged insane were also sent there. A lighthouse was installed in 1864. Fortifications were erected during World War II, and from the mid-1960s to 1991 Robben Island served as South Africa’s maximum-security prison. Most inmates, including Nelson Mandela, were black men incarcerated for political offenses. The last of these prisoners were released in 1991. The island continued to serve as a medium-security prison for criminal offenders until 1996. In 1997 it was turned into a museum and declared a national monument, and in 1999 it received designation as a World Heritage site.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.