Saldanha, South Africa
town in the Western Cape, South Africa
Saldanha (Afrikaans: [sal'dana]), also known as Saldanha Bay, is a town of 21,636 people, located 110 kilometres (70 mi) north of Cape Town on the northern shore of Saldanha Bay, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its situation as a natural sheltered harbour has led to development as a port for the export of iron ore from Sishen in the Northern Cape, which is transported on the Sishen–Saldanha railway line. The port is one of the largest exporting ports of ore in the whole of Africa, and it is able to handle ships as large as 200 000 tons deadweight.
History
'Agoada de Saldanha' was the early Portuguese name for Table Bay, but later given to the present location by Joris van Spilbergen, meaning 'watering place of Saldanha'.
Bartolomeu Dias was the first recorded European to set eyes on what is now Saldanha.
Saldanha Bay is ultimately named after António de Saldanha, captain of a vessel in Albuquerque's fleet which visited South Africa in 1503.
Port
The port has handling facilities for both bulk iron ore and crude oil. Ore vessels up to 21.5 metre draft are handled, as well as large crude oil carriers up to 20.5 metre draft.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Saldanha, South Africa” as town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1643816. Authority coordinates are -32.998, 17.946. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1503.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Saldanha, South Africa”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Saldanha, South Africa primary sources, Saldanha, South Africa archive and Saldanha research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Saldanha, South Africa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.