Kimberley
capital and chief town of Griqualand West, South Africa, the most important inland town of the Cape Colony. The British flag was first hoisted at Kimberley in November, 1871; but Griqualand West did not become an integral portion of the Cape Colony till October, 1880. The climate is healthful; the soil, where water can be obtained, fertile. It holds the direct road from Cape Town and the sea to the Orange River Colony, the Transvaal, and the immense territories to the N.; and is important to travelers and "up-country" traders as the starting-place for the interior. Kimberley owes its existence to the diamond mines, the working of which dates from July, 1871, and of which the most important are Du Toit's Pan, Bultfontein, De Beer's, and Kimberley Central. The town was the center of important military operations in 1900, during the Boer War. Pop. (1918) 17,226.