Upington Information
Upington is a town founded in 1871 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. Its current population is estimated at 72,198 inhabitants. The town was founded in 1884 and named after Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General of the Cape. It originated as a mission station established in 1875 and run by Reverend Schröder. The mission station now houses the town museum, known as the Kalahari Orange Museum. The museum is also the home of a donkey statue, which recognizes the enormous contribution that this animal made to the development of the region during the pioneering days of the 19th Century.
- Upington Airport has one of the longest runway in Africa at 5,600m (18,373ft) Until the 1960s, the annual gliding world championships were held at the airport.
- The airport remains very popular with "air tourists" who fly light aircraft, because the weather is very stable
- Die Eiland Holiday Resort in Upington has one of the longest and densest palm avenues in the southern hemisphere. The avenue of more than 200 date palms, planted 9m apart in 1935, is 1041m long.
- Upington has the second longest railway bridge in Southern Africa (1 067 meter).
- South Africa built a test site for its atomic bomb programme at Vastrap, 75km north east of Upington
