Location
The province is located on South Africa's eastern seaboard. It stretches from KwaZulu-Natal in the north to the Western Cape in the south and is bordered by the Free State and Northern Cape in the interior.

Economy
Major industries include motor manufacturing and fishing. Forestry and agriculture plays a large role in the province (sheep, angora wool, diary, fruit - including huge pineapple farms - and chicory). The Eastern Cape is served by three ports (Coega currently under construction) and three airports. The province has various private game reserves as well as SANP managed game reserves. On game farms hunting is a big earner of foreign currency.

The People
The Eastern Cape has a population of seven million people, the third-largest provincial population in South Africa. The language spoken by most is isiXhosa (83.8%), followed by Afrikaans (9.6%) and English (3.7%). The province is South Africa's poorest with high unemployment. It has a number of tertiary institutions but of the provincial population 20,9% of those aged 20 years or older, have never received any schooling, while only 4,7% have completed some form of higher education.

History
The Eastern Cape region has played an important role in South Africa's history over the last few centuries. As the then Cape Colony expanded into present day Eastern Cape white settlers started encroaching on Xhosa land. A long period of skirmishes followed referred to as the Xhosa Frontier Wars. 1820 saw the arrival of 4000 so-called British Settlers. They were mostly poor or unemployed British families lured to the area by the colonial rulers by being offered free farming land in Africa. In actual fact they were being settled in the area, with virtually now support, as a buffer between the Cape Colony and disgruntled Xhosa's. It is also from these "frontier" areas that some of the first Voortrekker (Boer) pioneers left from 1836 onwards to the interior in their bid to free themselves from British rule (in the so-called "Groot Trek" - Great Trek). In the 1900's the area played an important role in the struggle against Apartheid with prominent isiXhosa speaking individuals rising to the challenge. They include Steve Biko, Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu.

Port Elizabeth and surrounds
Most tourists to the region arrive in, or end their journeys, at Port Elizabeth. It is a coastal port city that is also the industrial powerhouse of the province. While the city occupies an important place in the province and South Africa's history its main tourism function is that of transport hub. It lies on the N2 ("National Route 2") coastal highway and has a smallish but well served domestic airport. It does also offer great city-beaches and is a good base from which to explore the region (also see: Algoa Bay and Port Elizabeth beaches).

Attractions within striking distance from Port Elizabeth include: Addo Elephant Park, Shamwari Private Game Reserve, Salem, Grahamstown, Bathurst, Port Alfred, Kenton-on-Sea, Bushman's River Mouth, Diaz Cross, the Alexandria Forest, Tsitsikamma National Park, Jeffreys Bay, Cape St. Francis and St. Francis Bay.

The Garden Route
The very popular Garden Route stretches from Tsitsikamma in the north down to Mossel Bay in the south. Of the whole route only the Tsitsikamma National Park section falls in the Eastern Cape. It includes the Paul Sauer Bridge, Storms River Village, Storms River Mouth, Bloukrans River Bridge (home to the jump site of the highest bungy jump in the world) and Nature's Valley (located on the province's border with the Western Cape).

The Wild Coast
The Wild Coast covers the north-eastern coastline of the Eastern Cape province and is part of the former homeland of Transkei. It is indeed quite "wild" with little infrastructure and almost no commercial developments. This is the region's greatest attraction as well as its greatest drawback.

The easiest accessible areas are also the most commercial and include the Wild Coast Sun (beach hotel and casino resort) and the town of Port St. Johns. The most accessible of the wilder parts is Coffee Bay from which you can visit the nearby Hole-in-the-Wall. Venturing into the rest of the region on your own is not advisable. With the strict qualification that you do so with the help of a reputable travel establishment, it could however make for a truly unique experience in a beautiful unspoilt coastal paradise.

The central and south-western interior
Most of the Eastern Cape's vast interior consists of barren mountain ranges and plains, including sections of the Great Karoo. It is not very accessible to tourists and it is advisable to opt for a tourist guide when heading into these regions.

The jewel of the interior region is probably Graaff-Reinet with its old-worldish architectural charm, its Karoo surroundings including the Valley of Desolation - all complimented by the nearby Nieu Bethesda where the excellent Owl House waits for strangers to wander in. A relatively new addition a good way east from here is the upmarket Kwandwe Private Game Reserve on the banks of the Fish River. Other reserves include the Mountain Zebra Park and the Great Fish River Complex (an amalgamation of three separate reserves). Some of the more noteworthy or interesting small towns elsewhere in the interior include Somerset East, Bedford, Cradock, Adelaide, Hogsback (small mountain retreat), Queenstown and Aliwal North (known for its natural hot mineral water springs).

East London
East London is the smaller of the two Eastern Cape port cities. It is not very attractive but offers some worthwhile city-beaches. It also has a small domestic airport.

Beyond the nearby mid-sized Beacon Bay and Gonubie (part of greater East London) lies a couple of tiny village-like family beach resorts within striking distance from the city including Cintsa, Haga-Haga, Morgan's Bay and Kei Mouth.