Albertina is situated 52 kilometers from Mossel Bay on the N2, as well as the mines and aloe products, the town relies heavily on its agricultural, there are some excellent walks, horse riding, game drives, bird watching, and vine yards, all within easy distances.

Albertina had been growing as settlement from around the mid 1700s as mainly agricultural settlement, although red and yellow ochre were first noticed by Sir John Barrow in 1797; however this natural resource was not utilized until much later. In 1908 a big diamond was discovered at nearby Aasvoëlberg - literally Vulture Mountain - but no further finds were recorded.

The settlement continued to expand over the years and eventually the Dutch reformed Church decided Albertina required its own church.

The town was named after the reverend J.R. Albertyn of Riversdale, who planned the establishment of a separate church community. On the 10th of September 1898 the church council of Riversdale bought the farm Grootfontein from a Mrs H. Lourens. A rectory was built by the congregation of Riversdale, and on 17th February 1900 a minister, the reverend D.J. Malan was ordained. Albertinia was proclaimed a town on 18 November 1904.

In 1925 W.R. van As began commercially mining ochre, today Albertina is the principle source of ochre in South Africa, as well exporting the product worldwide, the natural earth product is used mainly in the manufacture of paints.

Aloe ferox is today a major export product of this area. The leaves are collected during the winter and drained of their bitter-tasting sap, then boiled to form a concentrated product. This area is one of the two principal sources of aloe sap concentrate, the other being the West Indies. The sap of the Aloe ferox is an important ingredient of several medicinal products, many of which are also manufactured at Albertinia.

Agriculture plays the major role with the cultivation of grain (wheat and oats), dairy farming, sheep and cattle farming.

Another product in abundance and harvested is thatching grass, family Poaceae, species Thammocortis insignus, and Restionaceae.