Alice is a town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa Town on the Tyume River, some 120 km northwest of East London. It was named in 1847 by the Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, after Princess Alice, the second daughter of Queen Victoria. Municipal status was attained in 1852.

The Amatole mountain range, subsidiary of the Winterberg range, is found 15 km north-east of Alice and between Seymour and Stutterheim, extending westwards to the Great Fish River. The name is of Xhosa origin and means ‘weaned calves’.

The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice. Several leading opponents of the apartheid regime attended Fort Hare, among them Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki and Oliver Tambo of the African National Congress, Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Robert Sobukwe of the Pan Africanist Congress, Desmond Tutu, and others African country presidents Kenneth Kaunda, Seretse Khama, Yusuf Lule, Julius Nyerere, Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo.

Key Statistics 2011

Total population 15,143
Young (0-14) 19,1%
Working Age (15-64) 77,6%
Elderly (65+) 3,3%
Dependency ratio 28,9
Sex ratio 89,9
Population density 1538 persons/km2
No schooling aged 20+ 2,5%
Higher education aged 20+ 22,2%
Matric aged 20+ 26,2%
Number of households 3,716
Average household size 2,7
Female headed households 45,8%
Formal dwellings 93,5%
Housing owned/paying off 58,2%
Flush toilet connected to sewerage 88,7%
Weekly refuse removal 61,2%
Piped water inside dwelling 66,5%
Electricity for lighting 91,7%

 

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