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What is Robben Island known for?

Dutch for ‘seal island’, Robben Island is one of the world’s most famous prisons and is best known as the home to not one but three former South African presidents, Kgalema Motlanthe, Jacob Zuma and for 18 of his 27 years of incarceration, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

Where is Robben in South Africa?

Administratively, the island is part of the Western Cape Province in southwestern South Africa. The name “Robben” is a Dutch translation for “seals,” which once dominated the island's surrounding water.

Is Robben Island a leper colony?

The island was originally used as a leper colony, but later became an apartheid prison. Nelson Mandela, the world-famous South African leader of the anti-apartheid movement, was imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 years. Today, the island is open to tours, and visitors can see the cell where Mandela was held, as well as the prisons and leper colony.

Was Robben Island a prison?

However, whatever its other uses, Robben Island was used as a prison in one measure or another until the 20th century. Even in its time as a hospital Robben Island was prison-like, its isolation ensuring that diseases could not be spread to the mainland. Furthermore, prisoners were kept here even whilst it housed the hospital.

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