Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.
A popular global tourist destination, Cape Town has been named the best city in the world, and the world's best city for travellers numerous times, including by The New York Times in 2014, Time Out in 2025, the World Travel Awards in 2026, and The Telegraph for the past 8 years (2017 through 2025). Cape Town has South Africa's highest household incomes, lowest rate of unemployment, highest level of infrastructure investment, strongest service delivery performance, largest tourism appeal, and most robust real estate market.