and by an
act of government, which became law in 1874, the country was portioned
out into seven provinces; about the same time new fiscal divisions were
formed within them by the reduction of those already existing. The seven
provinces are named from their geographical position: western,
north-western, south-western, eastern, north-eastern, south-eastern and
midland. In general usage the distinction made is into western and
eastern provinces, according to the area of the primary division.
Griqualand West on its incorporation with the colony in 1880 became a
separate province, and when the crown colony of British Bechuanaland was
taken over by the Cape in 1895 it also became a separate province (see
GRIQUALAND and BECHUANALAND). For electoral purposes the Native
Territories (see KAFFRARIA) are included in the eastern province.

_Chief Towns_.--With the exception of Kimberley the principal towns (see
separate notices) are on the coast. The capital, Cape Town, had a
population (1904) of 77,668, or including the suburbs, 169,641. The most
important of these suburbs, which form separate municipalities, are
Woodstock (28,990), Wynberg (18,477), and Claremont (14,972). Kimberley,
the centre of the diamond mining industry, 647 m. up country from Cape
Town, had a pop. of 34,331, exclusive of the adjoining municipality of
Beaconsfield (9378). Port Elizabeth, in Algoa Bay, had 32,959
inhabitants, East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo river, 25,220.
Cambridge (pop. 3480) is a suburb of East London. Uitenhage (pop.
12,193) is 21 m. N.N.W. of Port Elizabeth. Of the other towns Somerset
West (2613), Somerset West Strand (3059), Stellenbosch (4969), Paarl
(11,293), Wellington (4881), Ceres (2410), Malmesbury (3811), Caledon
(3508), Worcester (7885), Robertson (3244) and Swellendam (2406) are
named in the order of proximity to Cape Town, from which Swellendam is
distant 134 m. Other towns in the western half of the colony are
Riversdale (2643), Oudtshoorn (8849), Beaufort West (5478), Victoria
West (2762), De Aar (3271), and the ports of Mossel Bay (4206) and
George (3506). Graaff Reinet (10,083), Middleburg (6137), Cradock
(7762), Aberdeen (2553), Steynsburg (2250) and Colesberg (2668) are more
centrally situated, while in the east are Graham's Town (13,887), King
William's Town (9506), Queenstown (9616), Molteno (2725), Burghersdorp
(2894), Tarkastad (2270), Dordrecht (2052), Aliwal North (5566), the
largest town on the banks of t