Herschel, South Africa

Herschel
Herschel Show map of Eastern Cape Herschel Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 30°36′54″S 27°9′43″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Joe Gqabi
Municipality	Senqu
Area [1]
• Total	4.48 km^2 (1.73 sq mi)
Elevation	1,830 m (6,000 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	2,189
• Density	490/km^2 (1,300/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	99.9%
• Coloured	0.1%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Xhosa	7.5%
• Sotho	10.1%
• Hlubi	80%
• Other	2.3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	9756
PO box	9756
Area code	051-603

Herschel is a settlement in Joe Gqabi District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

The village is situated 19 kilometres (12 mi) north of Lady Grey, due east of Aliwal North. Founded in 1879, it was named after the astronomer Sir John Herschel who worked in the Cape Colony from 1834 to 1838, making observations of Halley's Comet amongst his other astronomical work.[2]

References

1. "Main Place Herschel". Census 2011.
2. Raper, P. E. (1989). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-947464-04-2 – via Internet Archive.