| Camperdown | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa KwaZulu-Natal#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -29.7333°N 62°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | KwaZulu-Natal |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | UMgungundlovu |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Mkhambathini |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 6.20 |
| Population Total: | 2101 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 51.4% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 2.6% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 19.1% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 26.4% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.6% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | English |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 45.5% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Zulu |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 38.9% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 6.2% |
| Demographics2 Title4: | Sotho |
| Demographics2 Info4: | 3.5% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 5.9% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 3720 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 031 |
Camperdown is a settlement in Umgungundlovu District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is approximately 60 km by road northwest of Durban and 20 km southeast of Pietermaritzburg. It was laid out in 1865 on the farm Camperdown, which was named to commemorate the victory of the British navy under Admiral Adam Duncan over the Dutch fleet under Admiral Jan Willem de Winter in October 1797.[2]
In the early 1840s, John Vanderplank's ship, the Louisa, arrived in Durban. It was named after his fiancée who refused to leave England to live as a married couple in Tasmania. He planted black wattle as a windbreak but they flourished to the point where they were trees rather than shrubs. After the discovery of tannic acid for use in the tanning industry, the wattle industry grew. Wattle wood was also later found suitable for pulp and paper manufacturing.