Uitenhage, town in southeastern South Africa, in Eastern Cape Province, 27 km (17 mi) northwest of Port Elizabeth. Although it lies at the center of a region dominated by sheep and goat farming, Uitenhage is primarily an industrial town, with car assembly plants, railway workshops, and textile and tire factories. Historic buildings in the town include the Drostdy, or magistracy (1815), the town hall (1882), the courthouse (1898), and the neoclassical Dutch Reformed Church (1820-1843).
Uitenhage was founded in 1804 by Dutch government official J. A. Uitenhage de Mist. It acquired municipal status in 1841. In the early 1990s the South African government ended its policy of strict racial segregation called apartheid , and although Uitenhage and its suburbs are slowly becoming more integrated, most of the town's inhabitants are whites. Coloureds (persons of mixed race) live primarily in separate areas of the town, and blacks live primarily in the neighboring African township of KwaNobuhle. Population (1991) 67,581, plus 92,381 in KwaNobuhle.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Uitenhage Information info
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