| Porterville | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Western Cape#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -33°N 77°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Western Cape |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | West Coast |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Bergrivier |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillors |
| Leader Name: | Koos Daniels (DA)[1] Adam du Plooy (DA)[2] |
| Area Footnotes: | [3] |
| Area Total Km2: | 7.98 |
| Population Total: | 7057 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 1.6% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 76.4% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.4% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 21.0% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.6% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 96.0% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | English |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 1.9% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 2.1% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 6810, 6811, 6812 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 6810 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 022 |
Porterville is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
The town is located at the foot of the Olifants River Mountains, 27 km south-east of Piketberg and 155 km north-east of Cape Town. It is situated 140 km north of Cape Town on R44 road at the base of the Olifants River mountains. The Dasklip Pass to the surrounding Groot Winterhoek mountains is located 14 km outside of the town. The Soom Shale, a notable deposit of Late Ordovician era fossils, is located near the town. Agriculture in the area is dominated by wheat production. The closest towns are Piketberg to the west, Saron to the south, and Eendekuil and Citrusdal to the north.
Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by Khoekhoen nomadic pastoralists.[4] The town was laid out in 1863 on a portion of Pomona farm owned by F.J. Owen.[5] It was previously called Willems Vallei and was owned by Willem Berger.[5] The town was established in 1863 and named after William Porter, who served as Attorney General of the Cape Colony from 1839 to 1866,[6] and became a municipality in 1903.
According to the 2011 census, Porterville has a population of 7,057 people divided into 1,949 households. The census identifies residents' first languages as 96.0% Afrikaans, 1.9% English and 2.1% other. Within the population, 76.4% of residents identified themselves as "Coloured", 21.0% as "White" and 1.6% as "Black African".Porterville has an area of about 7.98 square km, with a density of 884.3 per square km. Minor area differences exist between figures extracted from the 2001 and 2011 censuses.