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Cape
of Good Hope,rocky
promontory at the southern end of Cape Peninsula, Western Cape
province, South Africa. It was first sighted by the Portuguese
navigator Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 on his return voyage to Portugal after ascertaining the
southern limits of the African continent. One historical account says
that Dias named it Cape of Storms and that John II of Portugal
renamed it Cape of Good Hope (because its discovery was a good omen
that India could be reached by sea from Europe); other sources
attribute its present name to Dias himself.
Known
for the stormy weather and rough seas encountered there, the cape is
situated at the convergence of the warm Mozambique-Agulhas current
from the Indian Ocean and the cool Benguela current from Antarctic
waters. Grass and low shrub vegetation is characteristic of the
promontory, which is part of the Cape of Good Hope Nature
Reserve (established 1939) that encompasses the southern tip of the
peninsula. There is a lighthouse on Cape Point about 1.2 miles (2 km)
east of the Cape of Good Hope.
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