Agulhas, Cape

Southernmost cape in Africa, in Western Cape Province, South Africa. It is dangerous to shipping, on account of fogs, rocks, and uncertain currents. The meridian of the Cape marks the boundary between the Atlantic and the Indian oceans.

The Agulhas Bank, with an average breadth of 60 km/37 mi, stretches for 240 km/150 mi from the Cape to the Great Fish River. A lighthouse was erected here in 1849.

In 1852 the British troopship Birkenhead sank off the Cape with the loss of over 400 lives.