Paternoster, South Africa

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Paternoster, South Africa" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Paternoster
The fisherman's village of Paternoster
Paternoster Show map of Western Cape Paternoster Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 32°49′S 17°53′E / 32.817°S 17.883°E / -32.817; 17.883
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	West Coast
Municipality	Saldanha Bay
Area [1]
• Total	2.49 km2 (0.96 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	1,971
• Density	790/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	16.0%
• Coloured	71.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	11.6%
• Other	0.6%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	82.6%
• Xhosa	9.1%
• English	5.7%
• Sign language	1.0%
• Other	1.5%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	7381
PO box	—
Area code	022

Paternoster (pronounced /ˌpɑːtɜːrˈnɒstɜːr/) is one of the oldest fishing villages on the West Coast of South Africa. It is situated 15 km north-west of Vredenburg^[2] and 145 km north of Cape Town, at Cape Columbine between Saldanha Bay and St Helena Bay. The town covers an area of 194.8 hectare and has approximately 1883 inhabitants.

The origin of the name remains unknown. Many people believe that the name, which means ‘Our Father’ in Latin, refers to prayers said by Catholic Portuguese seamen when they became shipwrecked.^[3] It appears as St. Martins Paternoster on an old map of Pieter Mortier so the name may be derived from Paternoster Row in the City of London which is adjacent to St. Martins Court.^[4] Other people believe it refers to the beads that the Khoi tribe wore that were called Paternosters.^[5]