L'Agulhas

This article is about the town. For other uses, see Agulhas (disambiguation).

L'Agulhas Agulhas
View over L'Agulhas
L'Agulhas Show map of Western Cape L'Agulhas Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 34°49′20″S 20°1′0″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	Overberg
Municipality	Cape Agulhas
Area [1]
• Total	7.49 km^2 (2.89 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	548
• Density	73/km^2 (190/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	7.1%
• Coloured	4.6%
• Indian/Asian	0.2%
• White	86.3%
• Other	1.8%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	80.7%
• English	17.0%
• Other	2.3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	7287
Area code	028435

L'Agulhas is the southernmost coastal village and holiday resort in South Africa, located within the Cape Agulhas Local Municipality at the southernmost tip of the African mainland. It is situated next to the town of Struisbaai and about 30 kilometres (20 mi) south of the regional centre of Bredasdorp. Some of the older residents and documents refer to the town as by its former name Cape Agulhas or Cape L'Agulhas or simply Agulhas which were the names that referred to this town before it was changed to L'Agulhas to avoid confusion when the Bredasdorp Municipality changed its name to The Cape Agulhas Municipality (CAM).

Etymology

Agulhas is the plural form of “agulha” in Portuguese. It is derived from the Late Latin word, “acūcula,” and the Latin word “acula,” both meaning a needle or pin. They trace back to the theorized Proto-Indo-European word “h₂eḱ.”

According to local legend, when sailing to the cape, sailors saw the compass needle point North, directly to the modern day location of L’Agulhas.

Lighthouse

The Cape Agulhas Lighthouse.

Post box at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost post box in Africa.

The Cape Agulhas Lighthouse, the second-oldest working lighthouse in South Africa, is at the southern end of the town. Designed by Colonel Charles Cornwell Michell in homage to the Pharos of Alexandria, the lighthouse was lit on March 1, 1849. Some 150 ships lay scattered along the South African coast, many due to the treacherous Agulhas Reef. The lighthouse was declared a National Monument in 1973.

The wreck of the Meisho Maru near Cape Agulhas.

Geography

Climate

L'Agulhas has a mild semi-arid climate (BSk, according to the Köppen climate classification). Summers are mild and dry, winters are cool and wetter. The average annual precipitation is 276 mm (11 in), with most rainfall occurring mainly during winter.

Fishing

The local Agulhas Bank, known for its fishing, is reputed to have the richest fishing area in the Southern Hemisphere.^[2]

L'Agulhas
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     10     25 15     11     25 15     17     24 14     28     22 12     32     20 9     35     18 7     36     17 7     33     17 7     23     19 8     23     20 10     18     22 12     10     24 14 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: SA Explorer
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.4     77 59     0.4     77 59     0.7     75 57     1.1     72 54     1.3     68 48     1.4     64 45     1.4     63 45     1.3     63 45     0.9     66 46     0.9     68 50     0.7     72 54     0.4     75 57 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Another source gives different data, showing that it has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb), with most precipitation falling in June.^[3]

Climate data for L'Agulhas
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	24 (75)	23.8 (74.8)	22.7 (72.9)	20.9 (69.6)	19.3 (66.7)	18 (64)	16.9 (62.4)	17.1 (62.8)	17.9 (64.2)	19.2 (66.6)	21.1 (70.0)	23 (73)	20.3 (68.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	20.6 (69.1)	20.5 (68.9)	19.6 (67.3)	17.7 (63.9)	15.8 (60.4)	14.5 (58.1)	13.6 (56.5)	13.8 (56.8)	14.6 (58.3)	16 (61)	17.8 (64.0)	19.5 (67.1)	17.0 (62.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	17.3 (63.1)	17.3 (63.1)	16.5 (61.7)	14.5 (58.1)	12.3 (54.1)	11 (52)	10.3 (50.5)	10.5 (50.9)	11.4 (52.5)	12.9 (55.2)	14.6 (58.3)	16.1 (61.0)	13.7 (56.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	17 (0.7)	23 (0.9)	27 (1.1)	63 (2.5)	63 (2.5)	69 (2.7)	64 (2.5)	56 (2.2)	41 (1.6)	40 (1.6)	30 (1.2)	24 (0.9)	517 (20.4)
Source: Climate-Data.org[3]

See also

• Cape Agulhas
• Agulhas National Park

External links

• History of Cape Agulhas
• L'Agulhas

References

1. "Main Place L'Agulhas". Census 2011.
2. Raper, Peter E. (1987). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Internet Archive. p. 53. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
3. "Climate: L'Agulhas - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 16 August 2013.