Robben Island (prison)

Maximum Security Prison

Prison building
Location in Cape Town
Location	Robben Island, Cape Town
Coordinates	33°48′01″S 18°22′16″E / 33.80028°S 18.37111°E / -33.80028; 18.37111
Status	Inactive
Security class	Maximum-minimum
Opened	1961
Closed	2011
Managed by	South African government
City	Cape Town
Postal code	7400
Country	South Africa
Website	robben-island.org.za
Notable prisoners
Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe, Jacob Zuma

Robben Island Prison is an inactive prison on Robben Island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometers (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, Cape Town, South Africa. Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. Since then, three former inmates of the prison (Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe,^[1] and Jacob Zuma) have gone on to become President of South Africa.

It is a South African National Heritage Site as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[2][3]