East London, also Oos-Londen, city in southeastern South Africa, in the province of Eastern Cape, a seaport on the Indian Ocean, at the mouth of the Buffalo River. A railway terminus, East London is the marketing and distributing center for the eastern part of the province and is a major wood-shipping port. Important industries include food processing, automobile assembly, and the manufacture of furniture, footwear, pharmaceuticals, and textiles. East London is a popular resort city, with a pleasant temperature, fine beaches, and an esplanade extending along the waterfront. The city is the site of an art gallery, a zoo, and an aquarium. The first known specimen of a coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct for several million years, was caught in 1938 near East London and is housed in the city museum. In 1847 East London was used as a British garrison and base during a war between the British and Africans of the area; it was incorporated as a city in 1914. Population (2001) 135,560.