Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay
Mosselbaai
From top, an aerial view of Mossel Bay. A view of the port at Mossel Bay (centre left). World War I war memorial (centre right). A view down Marsh Street of downtown Mossel Bay (bottom left). xam rock art just outside of Mossel bay (bottom right).
Coat of arms of Mossel Bay
Motto(s): 
Jure et Justitia Valemus (Latin: We are strong in law and justice)
Mossel Bay is located in Western Cape
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay is located in South Africa
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay is located in Africa
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay
Coordinates: 34°11′00″S 22°08′00″E / 34.18333°S 22.13333°E / -34.18333; 22.13333
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
DistrictGarden Route
MunicipalityMossel Bay
Established1848
Area
 • Total36.8 km2 (14.2 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total99,000
 • Density2,700/km2 (7,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African12.7%
 • Coloured51.5%
 • Indian/Asian0.8%
 • White34.3%
 • Other0.7%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans81.5%
 • English9.2%
 • Xhosa6.5%
 • Other2.8%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
6506
PO box
6500
Area code044

Mossel Bay (Afrikaans: Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 120,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the country's seat of parliament, Cape Town (which is also the capital city of the Western Cape), and 400 km west of Port Elizabeth, the largest city in the Eastern Cape. The older parts of the town occupy the north-facing side of the Cape St Blaize Peninsula, whilst the newer suburbs straddle the Peninsula and have spread eastwards along the sandy shore of the Bay.

The town's economy relied heavily on farming, fishing and its commercial harbour (the smallest in the Transnet Port Authority's stable of South African commercial harbours),[2] until the 1969 discovery of natural offshore gas fields led to the development of the gas-to-liquids refinery operated by PetroSA. Tourism is another driver of Mossel Bay's economy.

  1. ^ a b c d Main Place Mossel Bay from Census 2011.
  2. ^ "Transnet Port Authority". Retrieved 29 November 2023.