The Cape of Good Hope (Afrikaans: Kaap die Goeie Hoop, Dutch: Kaap de Goede Hoop, Portuguese: Cabo da Boa Esperança) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of South Africa. It is a common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa and the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The true southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast. However, when following the coastline from the equator, the Cape of Good Hope marks the psychologically important point where one begins to travel more eastward than southward. Thus the rounding of the cape in 1488 was considered a significant milestone by the Portuguese attempting to establish direct trade relations with India and the Far East.
In 1488, navigator Bartholomew Dias named the Peninsula "Cabo Tormentoso," or the "Cape of Storms." It was later renamed by King John II of Portugal "Cabo da Boa Esperanca"—the Cape of Good Hope, because of the great optimism engendered by opening a sea route to the East.
The term "Cape of Good Hope" was also used to indicate the early Cape Colony commissioned by the Dutch East India Company, and established in 1652 by the merchant Jan van Riebeeck as a re-provisioning station in the vicinity of the Cape Peninsula. Just prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa, the term referred to the entire region that was to become the Cape Province in 1910