Where Is Robben Island?

Robben Island, just twelve kilometres off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, was, in past years, used as an island of isolation. With Table Mountain in the distance, Robben Island is a small, flat, oval island and is only about a kilometre wide. Once used as a leper colony, Robben Island became infamous during the apartheid years. Many freedom fighters found themselves locked behind bars as political prisoners. Nelson Mandela spent twenty-seven years on the island, locked away for disobeying apartheid laws. Not long after his release Nelson Mandela was voted in as president for the new, apartheid-free South Africa. During the years that Robben Island was used to house political prisoners, civilians were banned from the island. Today, no longer an island of isolation, Robben Island houses Robben Island Museum and is open to tourists everyday. In 1999 Robben Island was declared a World Heritage Site.

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