Amathole is one of the 7 districts

Districts of South Africa

South Africa is divided into 52 districts . The 12th amendment to the Constitution reduced this number from 53. Another effect of this amendment is that each district is now completely contained within a province, thus eliminating cross-border districts. The districts also cover the entire area of...

 of Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

 province of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The seat of Amathole is East London. Over 90% of its 1 664 259 people speak Xhosa

Xhosa language

Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...

 (2001 Census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

). The district code is DC12. "Amathole" means calves, the name of the mountain range

Amatola Mountains

Amatola, Amatole or Amathole are a range of densely forested mountains, situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The word Amatole means "calves", and Amatole District Municipality, which lies to the south, is named after these mountains.-Natural history:Part the 'Amatola and...

 and forest

Knysna-Amatole montane forests

The Knysna-Amatole montane forests ecoregion, of the Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Biome, is in South Africa. It covers an Afromontane area of in South Africa's Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces.-Setting:...

 which forms the northern boundary of the district.

Government

The current Executive Mayor of Amathole District Municipality is Sakhumzi Somyo, and the Municipal Manager is Xolela Msweli.

Neighbours

Amathole is surrounded by:

• Chris Hani
  Chris Hani District Municipality
  Chris Hani is one of the 7 districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Chris Hani is Queenstown. The majority of its 810 274 people speak Xhosa , although Afrikaans speaking people predominate in the far west of the district...
  
   (DC13) to the north
• OR Tambo
  OR Tambo District Municipality
  OR Tambo is one of the 7 districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of OR Tambo is Mthatha . The vast majority of its 1 676 463 people speak Xhosa . The district is named after Oliver Tambo...
  
   (DC15) to the north-east
• the Indian Ocean
  Indian Ocean
  The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
  
   to the south-east
• Cacadu
  Cacadu District Municipality
  Cacadu District Municipality is situated in the Western Portion of the Eastern Cape province, covering an area of 58 242 square kilometres. The area of the district municipality includes nine local municipalities and other portions collectively known as the District Management Areas . The seat of...
  
   (DC10) to west

Local municipalities

The district contains the following local municipalities

Local municipality (South Africa)

In South Africa, a local municipality or Category B municipality is a type of municipality that serves as the third, and most local, tier of local government...

:

Local municipality	Population	%
Buffalo City Buffalo City Local Municipality Buffalo City is a metropolitan municipality situated on the east coast of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It includes the towns of East London, Bhisho and King William's Town, as well as the large townships of Mdantsane and Zwelitsha....	701 873	42.17%
Mnquma Mnquma Local Municipality Mnquma Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Amatole District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa.-References:...	287 770	17.29%
Mbhashe	253 378	15.22%
Amahlathi Amahlathi Local Municipality Amahlathi Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Amatole District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Amahlati is an isiXhosa name that means "a place where many trees are grouped together, a forest". Forests are a key feature of the area....	139 038	8.35%
Nkonkobe Nkonkobe Local Municipality Nkonkobe Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Amatole District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The municipality is named after a mountain range , Nkonkobe in isiXhosa....	128 664	7.73%
Ngqushwa Ngqushwa Local Municipality Ngqushwa Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Amatole District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa.-References:...	84 235	5.06%
Great Kei Great Kei Local Municipality Great Kei Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Amatole District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The name "Kei" is of Khoi origin, meaning "sand". The municipality is named after the Great Kei River....	44 452	2.67%
Nxuba Nxuba Local Municipality Nxuba Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Amatole District of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The Fish River, as it is now called, was first named Nxuba River by King Sandile in the 18th century-References:...	24 834	1.49%

Demographics

The following statistics are from the 2001 census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

.

Language	Population	%
Xhosa Xhosa language Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...	1 525 470	91.66%
English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...	69 888	4.20%
Afrikaans Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...	60 281	3.62%
Sotho	1 820	0.11%
Zulu Zulu language Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...	1 657	0.10%
Other	1 504	0.09%
Swati Swati language The Swazi or Swati language is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Swaziland and South Africa by the Swazi people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 3 million. The language is taught in Swaziland and some South African schools in Mpumalanga and KaNgwane areas...	1 345	0.08%
Ndebele Southern Ndebele language The Southern Ndebele language is an African language belonging to the Nguni group of Bantu languages, and spoken by the amaNdebele . There are two dialects of Southern Ndebele in South Africa:* the Northern Transvaal Ndebele or Nrebele...	896	0.05%
Northern Sotho	659	0.04%
Tswana Tswana language Tswana or Setswana is a language spoken in Southern Africa by about 4.5 million people. It is a Bantu language belonging to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages branch of Zone S , and is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi...	384	0.02%
Venda Venda Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda people, speakers of the Venda language. It bordered modern Zimbabwe and South Africa, and is now part of Limpopo in South Africa....	174	0.01%
Tsonga Tsonga language The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan.- Classification :Tsonga belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger–Congo languages...	166	0.01%

Gender

Gender	Population	%
Female	892 862	53.65%
Male	771 397	46.35%

Ethnic group

Ethnic group	Population	%
Black African	1 539 358	92.50%
White	67 945	4.08%
Coloured	52 185	3.14%
Indian/Asian	4 771	0.29%

Age

Age	Population	%
000 - 004	147 098	8.84%
005 - 009	192 361	11.56%
010 - 014	216 586	13.01%
015 - 019	208 995	12.56%
020 - 024	146 750	8.82%
025 - 029	115 632	6.95%
030 - 034	99 327	5.97%
035 - 039	96 666	5.81%
040 - 044	92 560	5.56%
045 - 049	77 430	4.65%
050 - 054	59 027	3.55%
055 - 059	47 029	2.83%
060 - 064	53 352	3.21%
065 - 069	38 858	2.33%
070 - 074	31 716	1.91%
075 - 079	18 830	1.13%
080 - 084	15 262	0.92%
085 - 089	4 022	0.24%
090 - 094	2 026	0.12%
095 - 099	559	0.03%
100 plus	173	0.01%

Election results

Election results for Amathole in the South African general election, 2004

South African general election, 2004

Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....

.

• Population 18 and over: 979 166 [58.83% of total population]
• Total votes: 630 953 [37.91% of total population]
• Voting % estimate: 64.44% votes as a % of population 18 and over

  Party	Votes	%
  African National Congress African National Congress The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...	523 630	82.99%
  United Democratic Movement	50 559	8.01%
  Democratic Alliance	32 467	5.15%
  Pan African Congress Pan-African Congress The Pan-African Congress was a series of five meetings in 1919, 1921, 1923, 1927, and 1945 that were intended to address the issues facing Africa due to European colonization of much of the continent....	7 627	1.21%
  African Christian Democratic Party	4 492	0.71%
  Independent Democrats	3 680	0.58%
  New National Party	2 600	0.41%
  Freedom Front Plus	795	0.13%
  Inkhata Freedom Party Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party is a political party in South Africa. Since its founding, it has been led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi. It is currently the fourth largest party in the National Assembly of South Africa.-History:...	785	0.12%
  Azanian People's Organisation	765	0.12%
  SOPA	740	0.12%
  United Christian Democratic Party	625	0.10%
  EMSA	407	0.06%
  PJC	400	0.06%
  UF	293	0.05%
  NA	269	0.04%
  CDP	257	0.04%
  TOP	236	0.04%
  KISS	132	0.02%
  NLP	109	0.02%
  Minority Front	85	0.01%
  Total	630 953	100.00%