The Eastern Cape is one of the poorest provinces in the country. Large coastal cities, unfortunately known for their lack of safety, border landscapes of stunning beauty such as the semi-desert Great Karoo and the Wild Coast with its vast sandy beaches. The Eastern Cape is above all the land of the Xhosa, who lived in the western areas until being killed or pushed back by European settlers searching for farmland. Nowadays most of them live in the townships and former bantustans of the Transkei and Ciskey.