Chrissiesmeer

Chrissiesmeer
Chrissiesmeer  Chrissiesmeer shown within Mpumalanga
Coordinates: 26°16′41″S 30°12′47″E / 26.278°S 30.213°ECoordinates: 26°16′41″S 30°12′47″E / 26.278°S 30.213°E
Country	South Africa
Province	Mpumalanga
District	Gert Sibande
Municipality	Msukaligwa
Established	1860
Area[1]
• Total	3.25 km^2 (1.25 sq mi)
Elevation	1,720 m (5,640 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	4,012
• Density	1,200/km^2 (3,200/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
• Black African	94.0%
• Coloured	0.1%
• Indian/Asian	0.7%
• White	5.2%
First languages (2011)[1]
• Zulu	62.4%
• Swazi	26.5%
• Afrikaans	4.5%
• English	2.4%
• Other	4.2%
Postal code (street)	2332
PO box	2332
Area code	017

Chrissiesmeer (Lake Chrissie) is a small town situated in Msukaligwa Local Municipality, in a wetland area of Mpumalanga province in South Africa, on the northern banks of the eponymous Lake Chrissie.

The San inhabited this area along with the Tlou-tle people who lived on rafts in the larger lakes. The Voortrekkers established a town here in the 1860s and named it after Marthinus Wessel Pretorius's daughter Christina. In the 1880s the town became an important stopover for wagons travelling to the gold mining town of Barberton.

In total there are more than 270 lakes in the immediate area (located not far from Carolina). Every year nearly 20,000 flamingo come into the area to breed.

References

1. "Main Place Chrissiesmeer". Census 2011.

• Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on Lake Chrissie