[citation needed] During the early to mid-19th century frontier wars between the British settlers and the local Xhosa inhabitants, East London served as a supply port to service the military headquarters[citation needed] at nearby King William's Town, about 50 km (31 mi) away.

Today, German surnames such as Gehring, Salzwedel and Peinke are still common in East London, but the descendants of the settlers rapidly became Anglicised.

[citation needed] The existing port, in the mouth of the Buffalo River, adjoining the Indian Ocean, began operating in 1870.

[6][7] In 1872, the Cape Colony, under the leadership of its first Prime Minister John Molteno, attained a degree of independence from Britain.

Modern day attractions include the Gately House, City Hall, Cape Railways, Nahoon Museum, East London Museum housing the coelacanth, a prehistoric fish, thought to be extinct, discovered live at the Chalumna River mouth near East London by fishermen in 1938,[10] and numerous memorial statues.

In 1951, the Land Tenure Advisory Board, the body created to enforce the act, conducted initial investigations into the reallocation of space along racial lines in East London.

This meant that the municipality's plans to extend the area in order to accommodate the Black African population were abandoned.

In 1956, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, who was the architect of apartheid, forbade the East London municipality from extending the existing Duncan Village township and sanctioned the building of Mdantsane.

[11] In 1961, these plans provided for the allocation of a distinct wedge of the city for Asian and Coloured residence, which "incorporated the areas of North End and the recently proclaimed Buffalo Flats location.

Certain parts of Duncan Village were abolished and its African residents removed, new coloured and Asian locations were built and proclaimed upon land in 1973.

In 2000, East London became part of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, also consisting of King William's Town, Bhisho and Mdantsane and is the seat of the Metro.

[14] The hottest temperatures have been recorded in springtime and autumn, rather than the summer months, due to violent berg (foehn) winds.

Berg winds contribute to these high temperatures, as already warm air from the arid interior is further heated through compression as it drops over the escarpment to sea level.

A major Daimler plant is located next to the harbour, manufacturing Mercedes-Benz and other vehicles for the local market, as well as exporting to the United States and Brazil.

Enormous investment in recent years, by corporations such as Daimler AG, has resulted in the harbour being developed to include a new car terminal.

From the 1960s until the 1990s, the apartheid government created tax and wage incentives to attract industries to the then black "independent states", including nearby Ciskei.

Investment thus flowed into surrounding areas such as Fort Jackson and Dimbaza, leaving East London in relative isolation.

The Buffalo Road Running Club of East London has created two established events that have gained international recognition.

Triathlon is a popular sport and in particular hosted the a world-famous Ironman 70.3 South African event which took place annually in January from 2012 to 2021.

Motocross is also popular and many national events are held in the area surrounding East London, due to the challenging terrain there and in Transkei.

South Africa's only Formula One World Drivers' Champion, Jody Scheckter, started his motor racing career with a Renault Gordini on this track.

The annual Buffalo Regatta began in 1881 and has become the largest in South Africa: in 2018 there were 1000 competitors participating in 200 events over three days.

It is home to some of South Africa's top surfers, including Greg Emslie, former World Championship Tour surfer, ISA World Masters Champion, five-time South African Men’s Champion[28] and coach to Olympic silver medalist Bianca Buitendag,[29] Andre Malherbe,[30] and up-and-comer Zoe Steyn.