Kimberley

Diamond-mining capital city of Northern Cape Province, South Africa, 153 km/95 mi northwest of Bloemfontein, and 1,223 m/4,012 ft above sea level; population (1991) 167,100. Its mines have been controlled by De Beers Consolidated Mines since 1887. It is an important railway junction.

Agriculture A number of irrigation schemes in the area, using water from the Vaal River, allow extensive cereal cultivation and cattle ranching.

Diamond mines and other industries Diamonds were first discovered near Kimberley in 1870. Within a few years people came from all over the world to pan the alluvial deposits along the Vaal River. On the outskirts of the city is the now water-filled Kimberley Open Mine known as the ‘Big Hole’ with a circumference of nearly 1,500 m/4,921 ft. During its 44 years of active life it yielded 15 million carats of diamonds. It was closed in 1915 when no longer profitable. Kimberley's prosperity declined when the diamond output decreased during and following World War I. It recovered with the discovery and exploitation of limestone and base minerals including asbestos, manganese, gypsum, and wolfram. Some of the diamond mines resumed operations as the demand for diamonds and their price increased. Kimberley is also a centre of developing secondary industries, including engineering, clothing manufacture, textiles, diamond cutting, and pulp and paper manufacturing.

Siege of Kimberley Kimberley figured prominently during the Boer War (1899-1902) when the town was besieged by Afrikaners and relieved by the British field marshal John French. The siege lasted from October 1899 to 15 February 1900.