What is Upington?
[[File:Upington.jpg|thumb|328x328px]] '''Upington''' is a city in the [[Northern Cape]] province of [[South Africa]]. It is on the banks of the [[Orange River]]. The town was founded in 1873. It was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift, [[Olive tree|olive]] trees are common in the area. It was later renamed after Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General and then Prime Minister of the Cape. At the start it was a mission station established in 1871 and run by Reverend Christiaan Schröder. The mission station now houses the Kalahari Orange Museum. The museum is also the home of a donkey statue, which recognises the enormous contribution that this animal made to the development of the region during the pioneering days of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Common Purpose |url=http://icarusfilms.com/if-purp |website=Icarus Films |access-date=4 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Hara |first1=Marguerite |title=A Common Purpose - Study Guide |url=https://www.roninfilms.com.au/get/files/14550.pdf |publisher=[[Australian Teachers of Media]] |date=2013}}</ref> Upington is at a height of 2,742 feet (835 metres). It is the closest large centre to the [[Augrabies Falls]] and the [[Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park]]. The landscape is very [[arid]] but the soil is [[fertile]] and crops such as fruit are grown in [[Irrigation|irrigated]] fields. The area is best known for its export-quality [[Grape|grapes]], raisins and [[Wine|wines]], which are cultivated on the rich flood plains of the Orange River. == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Towns in South Africa]] [[Category:Northern Cape]]