Robben Island served as a prison from the 17th to the 20th centuries. In 1959 the Prisons Department decided that it was to be used as a prison for political prisoners, until 1991. Among the prisoners were South Africa's first democratic President, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

It was the most feared prison in South Africa during the 1960's and early 1970's because of the isolation of the Island and the notoriously cruel prison staff.

Robben Island Prison (photo: Rüdiger Wölk, Creative Commons license)

Coordinates:

• Decimal degrees: -33.800351 (Latitude) 18.371673 (Longitude)
• Degrees, Minutes & Seconds: S33 48 01 (Latitude) E18 22 18 (Longitude)
• GPS: S 33 48.021 (Latitude) E 18 22.300 (Longitude)
• UTM: 34S 256681 (X) 6256874 (Y)
• Above sea level: 30 ft / 9 m

... also on Robben Island.

Sources:

• Robben Island Museum. 2009. Robben Island. http://www.robben-island.org.za (accessed 12 March 2013).
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 2013. Robben Island. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/916 (accessed 12 March 2013).
• Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2013. Sv. 'Robben Island'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robben_Island (accessed 29 April 2013).
• Wölk, R. 2004. Robben Island South Africa. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SafrikaIMG_8414.JPG (accessed 24 June 2013).