Robben Island (Afrikaans Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 km west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town,South Africa. The name is Dutch for "seal island". It is flat and only a few metres above sea level, as a result of an ancient erosion event.From the 17th to the 20th centuries, Robben Island served as a place of banishment, isolation and imprisonment. Today it is a World Heritage Site and museum, a poignant reminder to the newly democratic South Africa of the price paid for freedom.
