Population: 3,468,086
Province: KwaZulu-Natal
Average Temperature in June: High: 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 Celcius). Low: 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 Celcius).
Average Precipitation in June: 1.30 inches (33 mm).
Brief History: Today one of South Africa's 2 biggest getaway cities, Durban was initially founded by a British Lieutenant named F.G. Farewell in 1824. It is said by some that people inhabited the area known today as Durban over 100,000 years ago, but who the hell can say that for sure?
In the 1860s, the British established a sugar cane industry in the city of Durban, but because the local Zulu people did not want to work on said plantations, they brought in some Asians, mostly from India, to be indentured servants. The result today is an abnormally high Asian population in a South African city. They only make up a tad less than 20% of the total Durban population, but as mentioned, that is not seen very often in African cities.
As alluded to above, today Durban is a large tourist city. As you can see by the map in the first picture in the post, it is a city along the coast (those are almost always guaranteed to be big tourist cities) and Durban also happens to be the city you can reach Zululand and Drakensberg, both of which are popular tourist destinations. For all the talk I did a month ago about Johannesburg and how it was a business city, well, this is one of the places all those business people go when they want some time off. It is worth pointing out that Durban is not the only such city in South Africa. Cape Town is another big tourist city, and because it is also a World Cup hosting city, I will have more on that later in the week before the World Cup kicks off.
United States Sister Cities: Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana
Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium
As you have seen before, some of these World Cup stadiums are well over 50 years old and underwent big time renovations for the World Cup while others have been brand spanking new. The 70,000 capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium falls in the latter category: it's brand spanking new. And maybe I'm a sucker for these types of things, but as far as outside architecture goes, this is by far the neatest looking stadium I have seen for the World Cup. This is another stadium that has a Qwest Field-esque roof over the seats while maintaining in outdoor field of play.
Games being played in Moses Mabhida Stadium
June 13: Group D: Germany vs. Australia
June 16: Group H: Spain vs. Switzerland
June 19: Group E: Netherlands vs. Japan
June 22: Group B: Nigeria vs. South Korea
June 25: Group G: Brazil vs. Portugal
June 28: Round of 16: Group E Winner vs. Group F Runner-up
July 7: Semi-Finals Game
Lastly, here are some pictures of Durban.
(Thanks to Wikipedia in addition to several web sites dedicated to Johannesburg and South Africa. Stay tuned as I look at the other cities hosting the 2010 World Cup.)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Read the Commenting Guidelines before commenting.