Robben Island (Afrikaans: Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, South Africa, 6.9 kilometers (4.3 miles) west of the shore of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town. It gets its name from the Dutch term for seals (robben), which translates as Seal(s) Island in Dutch/Afrikaans. Robben Island is roughly oval in shape, 3.3 kilometers (2 miles) long north-south, and 1.9 kilometers (1+18 mi) wide, with a total area of 5.08 kilometers (1+3132 square miles). [2] As a result of an old erosion event, it is flat and barely a few metres above sea level. From the late-seventeenth century until the end of apartheid in 1996, it was fortified and used as a jail.
Robben Island is located in which city?
Robben Island, also known as Robbeneiland in Afrikaans, is an island in Table Bay, Western Cape province, South Africa. It is located 5 miles (8 kilometers) west of the mainland and 6 miles (10 kilometers) north of Cape Town, with an approximate area of 5 square miles (13 square km).
What is the significance of Robben Island?
Robben Island is well known for housing Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president, for 18 of his 27 years in prison. Since then, the island has come to represent the triumph of democracy and freedom over oppression.
What is there to see on Robben Island?
RIM artifacts from the past. This collection contains over 3000 accessioned objects left on Robben Island by prison officials. It contains prison apparel, objects made in the prison workshop, workshop tools, prison registries, an LP record collection, athletic equipment, and furniture.
Robben Island is located in which province?
Robben Island, 12 kilometers from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation, and imprisonment for nearly 400 years. Political troublemakers, social misfits, and the undesirable of society were all exiled to Robben Island by tyrants.
What is the current state of Robben Island?
Today, Robben Island stands as a vivid reminder of the apartheid regime, as well as a symbol of the human spirit triumphing over adversity, pain, and injustice. The maximum-security jail has been converted into a museum, with daily tours led by ex-political prisoners.
