Durban, the seaport of the colony of Natal, is situated on the northern shore of a nearly land-locked tidal bay. The 30th degree of S. lat. passes about 6 miles to the south of the town, and the 31st degree of E. long. about 2 miles to the west. The population in 1866, 4991; in 1891, 25,512—nearly half natives and Hindu coolies. The climate, though hot in one or two summer months, is healthy and suitable for Europeans, the death-rate being about 17 per 1000. The town was laid out by the Dutch, who formed a republic in Natal before the British, under Sir Benjamin D'Urban, took the colony in 1842.
The public buildings include a capacious town-hall, museum, library, hotels, clubs, halls, theatre, &c. The streets, originally axle-deep in sand, are now hardened, and there are paved footpaths. The Town Gardens form a conspicuous open space in the middle of the town, and besides the Botanical Gardens, there are two public parks and a good racecourse. The residences of the inhabitants are chiefly situated on the Berea, a low range of hills overlooking the town. The town is well supplied with water from river water-works within 15 miles distance. The government railway to Pietermaritzburg and the interior starts from the landing-quay, and passes through the town. Four and a half miles of tramways are laid from the Point, as the port is called, along the main street and through the Berea. Heavy guns for the Bluff, a bold promontory at the southern entrance to the port, were made in 1888-89 at Lord Armstrong's works, Newcastle-on-Tyne. The port, which has a lighthouse, is the entrepôt for coal from several interior parts of the colony. Great harbour works (1888-95) have made the inner harbour (4700 acres) accessible at all times to vessels of deep draught. The extension of the railway to Johannesburg and the Transvaal was completed in 1895, and greatly increased the prosperity of the port, through which, in spite of the formerly troublesome and dangerous bar, all the sea-borne commerce of Natal has always passed. Durban was, during the war with the Boer republics (1899-1900), the port of entry for British troops and supplies during the campaign in Natal and the relief of Ladysmith. See NATAL.