Cape Town: History, Former Names & Timeline
Supply station by the Cape of Good Hope founded by the Dutch East India Company, later capital of Britain's Cape Colony.
Cape TownExplore Cape Town in the interactive map
Former names of Cape Town
| From | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1652 | Kaapstad / Cape Town |
Timeline of Cape Town
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1488 | Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope |
| 1652 | Jan van Riebeeck sets up a supply station |
| 1806 | Britain occupies the Cape Colony |
| 1990 | Nelson Mandela speaks from City Hall after his release |
Who ruled Cape Town
Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.
| Period | State |
|---|---|
| 500 BC–1599 | Khoisan |
| 1600–1782 | Unclaimed / no data |
| 1783–1913 | Cape Colony |
| 1914–1919 | South Africa |
| 1920–1944 | Union of South Africa |
| 1945–today | South Africa |