The City of Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality on South Africa’s southwestern coast, and the seat of the Western Cape provincial government. The 2022 census counted 4,772,846 people over roughly 2,455 km² — South Africa’s second-most populous metro after Johannesburg. Cape Town city itself is the administrative seat.
Suburbs and Townships in Cape Town
Cape Town’s built-up area spans the Cape Peninsula, the Cape Flats, the Northern Suburbs and the Helderberg basin around Somerset West — more than 300 named suburbs, townships and residential nodes.
| Place | Type | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Town CBD | City centre | 4,772,846 (metro) |
| Athlone | Suburb | 237,414 |
| Somerset West | Town | 225,289 |
| Atlantis | Town | 82,736 |
| Kraaifontein | Town | 57,911 |
| Durbanville | Town | 54,286 |
| Kuils River | Town | 46,685 |
| Muizenberg | Town | 36,857 |
| Retreat | Suburb | 25,745 |
| Lansdowne | Suburb | 17,399 |
| Rondebosch | Suburb | 15,158 |
| Claremont | Suburb | 14,531 |
| Melkbosstrand | Town | 13,542 |
| Mamre | Town | 10,840 |
Cape Town’s metro area runs into hundreds of further named suburbs and townships. A sample by area:
- Bo-Kaap
- Camps Bay
- Clifton
- Sea Point
- Green Point
- Gardens
- Woodstock
- Observatory
- Salt River
- Mowbray
- Newlands
- Constantia
- Bishopscourt
- Wynberg
- Plumstead
- Diep River
- Fish Hoek
- Simon’s Town
- Hout Bay
- Milnerton
- Table View
- Blouberg
- Bloubergstrand
- Parklands
- Century City
- Bellville
- Bellville South
- Parow
- Goodwood
- Brackenfell
- Kraaifontein
- Belhar
- Delft
- Blue Downs
- Khayelitsha
- Mitchell’s Plain
- Gugulethu
- Nyanga
- Langa
- Philippi
- Grassy Park
- Ottery
- Bishop Lavis
- Bontheuwel
- Elsies River
- Ravensmead
- Uitsig
- Manenberg
- Hanover Park
- Bakoven
- Bantry Bay
- Camps Bay
- Cafda Village
The total GeoNames count for the metro exceeds 300 named places; the list above covers the largest and most-searched.
Geography
Cape Town wraps the Cape Peninsula between Table Mountain and the Atlantic and False Bay coastlines, extending north to Atlantis and Melkbosstrand and east to Somerset West and Kuils River. It borders Drakenstein, Stellenbosch, Theewaterskloof, Overstrand and Swartland local municipalities. Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and the Cape Flats define the metro’s core geography. The Cape Flats — a low, sandy plain between the mountains and False Bay — carries most of the metro’s population-dense townships, while the Atlantic Seaboard and southern suburbs occupy the mountain slopes and coastal fringe.
Demographics
Population grew from 3,740,031 (2011 census) to 4,772,846 (2022 census), an increase of about 28%. Cape Town is South Africa’s most linguistically mixed metro, with Afrikaans, isiXhosa and English all widely spoken across different suburbs. Khayelitsha, Mitchell’s Plain and Gugulethu on the Cape Flats are among the metro’s most populous single areas, alongside the Northern Suburbs corridor of Bellville, Parow and Goodwood.
Economy and Local Life
Cape Town’s economy runs on tourism, finance, film and media production, the port at the V&A Waterfront, and light manufacturing across the Cape Flats and Bellville. Agriculture and wine tourism extend into the surrounding Winelands. Tech and business-process-outsourcing sectors have grown steadily in the city centre and southern suburbs, and the Port of Cape Town remains a key container and fruit-export gateway for the Western Cape.
History
Cape Town was founded in 1652 as a Dutch East India Company victualling station under Jan van Riebeeck, becoming Britain’s Cape Colony capital after 1806. Under apartheid, the Group Areas Act forcibly removed Coloured and Black African residents from areas like District Six to the Cape Flats, creating the racially segregated township geography still visible today. The city’s six former municipalities were merged into the single City of Cape Town metro in 2000.
Getting There
Cape Town International Airport, in the city’s east, is South Africa’s second-busiest airport. The N1, N2 and N7 highways converge on the city centre, connecting to the Winelands, the Garden Route and the West Coast respectively. MyCiTi bus rapid transit and Metrorail commuter trains serve the central metro and southern suburbs.
FAQ
What is the seat of the City of Cape Town?
Cape Town city centre; it also serves as the Western Cape’s provincial capital.
How many people live in Cape Town?
4,772,846 people, per the 2022 census.
Which municipalities border Cape Town?
Drakenstein, Stellenbosch and Theewaterskloof, plus Overstrand and Swartland.
What are Cape Town’s main suburbs?
Athlone, Somerset West, Atlantis, Kraaifontein, Durbanville, Kuils River, Muizenberg and Khayelitsha are among the largest by population.
How big is the City of Cape Town?
About 2,455 km².
When was Cape Town founded?
In 1652, as a Dutch East India Company supply station at the foot of Table Mountain.
When did Cape Town become a single metro?
In 2000, when six former separate municipalities were merged into the unified City of Cape Town.