| Adelaide | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa#Africa |
| Coordinates: | -32.7078°N 26.2956°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Eastern Cape |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Amathole |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Raymond Mhlaba |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 40.0 |
| Elevation M: | 600 |
| Population Total: | 12191 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 76.5% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 18.8% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.5% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 3.5% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.8% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Xhosa |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 72.3% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 22.6% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | English |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 3.0% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 2.1% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 5760 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 5760 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 046 |
Adelaide is a rural town and farming area in the province of Eastern Cape, South Africa. Adelaide is situated at the foothills of the Great Winterberg mountain range, east of Bedford and west of Fort Beaufort.
The modern day area of Adelaide was first inhabited by Bushmen and Xhosa people (estimated around 1530 to 1760), but in the late 18th and 19th century white farmer settlers arrived here. Some Bushmen were displaced while some intermarried with Xhosa people such as the Gqunukhwebe, Gqwashu and Sukwini people.
Adelaide's origins date back to 1835 when a British officer named Captain Alexander Boswell Armstrong (1787–1862) established a military encampment which he named Fort Adelaide after Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, wife of King William IV. Despite the earlier English settlers, who were part of the 1820 Settlers, later on a large number of both Scottish and Afrikaans people soon immigrated here too. The Scottish were also the first to erect a church in the local area.
Adelaide is an important centre for wool and sheep farming. Beef, mutton, venison, and citrus fruit are also important products. The specialised abattoir for venison (farm-hunted game meat) operating in the central town provides much needed employment to the local residents.
About 2,300 of the San-Bushmen's faraway descendants, the Westernised Coloureds, reside in the Bezuidenhoutville township from the central town, and represent 19% of Adelaide's inhabitants. Lingelethu is the largest Black African township in Adelaide, with a census exceeding 6,000 and a population share of 77% of the municipal area.