The Northern Cape is a large, sparsely populated province of South Africa, created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. Northern Cape has the largest percentage of native speakers of Afrikaans of any province of South Africa.

The Northern Cape was one of three provinces carved out of the Cape Province in 1994, the others being Western Cape to the south and Eastern Cape to the southeast. Politically, it had been dominated since 1994 by the ANC.

The Northern Cape is also the home of over 1,000 San who emigrated from Namibia following the independence of the country; they had served as trackers and scouts for the South African government during the war, and feared reprisals from their former foes. They were awarded a settlement in Platfontein in 1999 by the Mandela government

The Northern Cape is South Africa's largest province, and distances between towns are enormous due to its sparse population. Its size is just shy of the size of the American state of Montana and slightly larger than that of Germany.

Most famous for the diamond mines around Kimberley, the Northern Cape also has a substantial agricultural area around the Orange River, including most of South Africa's sultana vineyards. Some Wine of Origin areas have been demarcated. Extensive sheep raising is the basis of the economy in the southern Karoo areas of the province

The Northern Cape Province is divided into five district municipalities, which are subdivided into 27 local municipalities.

Namakwa District Municipality

Richtersveld Local Municipality

Nama Khoi Local Municipality

Kamiesberg Local Municipality

Hantam Local Municipality

Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality

Khâi-Ma Local Municipality

 

Pixley ka Seme District Municipality

Ubuntu Local Municipality

Umsombomvu Local Municipality

Emthanjeni Local Municipality

Kareeberg Local Municipality

Renosterberg Local Municipality

Thembelihle Local Municipality

Siyathemba Local Municipality

Siyancuma Local Municipality

 

Siyanda District Municipality

Mier Local Municipality

!Kai! Garib Local Municipality

Khara Hais Local Municipality

Kheis Local Municipality

Tsantsabane Local Municipality

Kgatelopele Local Municipality

 

Frances Baard District Municipality

Sol Plaatje Local Municipality

Dikgatlong Local Municipality

Magareng Local Municipality

Phokwane Local Municipality

Kgalagadi District Municipality

Moshaweng Local Municipality

Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality

Gamagara Local Municipality