The Eastern Cape (Xhosa: eMpuma-Koloni or Afrikaans: Oos-Kaap) is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Port Elizabeth.

The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 1994 out of the Xhosa homelands or bantustans of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province. The central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the indigenous Xhosa people. In 1820 this area began to be settled by Europeans who originally came from England and some from Scotland and Ireland. Wikipedia