South Africa Geography
The Republic of South Africa is located at the southern tip of the African continent. It has 19 regions. The country is bordered to the northwest by Namibia, to the north by Botswana, and to the east by Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Leshoto, an independent country but with important ties to South Africa, is in its interior. The country is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
The coastline is about 2,800 kilometers (1,739 miles) and forms a broad, southward-projecting arc that stretches west to east from the border with the Namib Desert in the Atlantic south to Cape Buena Esperanza and then ascends north to the border with Mozambique in the Indian Ocean. The area surrounded by the Indian Ocean doubles that occupied by the Atlantic Ocean. The low-lying area near the coast is narrow for the most part, giving way to a steep mountain (Great Escarpment) that separates the coast from the interior highlands. In some places, especially in the KwaZulu-Natal province in the east, a greater distance separates the coast from the mountainous areas. Although most of the country is classified as semi-arid, it has considerable variation in climate and topography.
South Africa lies on the Tropic of Capricorn to Cape Agulhas at 33 degrees south.
For this reason, the country is positioned in a southern climate zone and a large part of its surface is on plateaus over 1200 m high. For example, Johannesburg, on the high plateau, is close to 1800 m and has a sunny and cool climate.
The coasts, where golden and white sand beaches abound, are surrounded by forests in the east and deserts in the west. The subcontinent presents a necklace of rocky islets that reach the limits of Antarctica.
Topographic divisions
Like most of the territory south of the Sahara, South Africa's landscape is dominated by a plateau known as the Karoo in the south of the country and Namibia, surrounded by the coastal plain and bounded on the south by the Great Escarpment. In the north it extends to 10.oS of the equator (from Angola, west to the escarpment of Muchinga province in Zambia to the east.
The Great Escarpment
It is the largest geological formation in Africa, consisting of a stepped slope from the South African central plateau, tilting towards the oceans that surround southern Africa on three sides, from Mozambique and Zimbabwe on the east, to the Muchinga escarpment in Namibia.
The plateau is highest in eastern South Africa, where it reaches elevations between 2,000 and 3,300 m. The edge of the plateau in this region forms vertiginous cliffs in the so-called Drakensberg mountains, but also by many of their local names, all ending in mountain or berge in Afrikaans.
The portion of the escarpment that could be considered a mountain range lies between KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. The Lesotho Plateau is formed in part by the Drakensberg Mountains, due to a 1,400 m layer of erosion-resistant lava, formed 182 million years ago, when the continent was still part of Gondwana. Much of this lava was eroded along with a layer of sedimentary rocks from the Karoo Supergroup, the largest stratigraphic unit in South Africa, a series of layers deposited between the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Jurassic, over 120 million years. that cover two thirds of the surface of South Africa. However, only a layer of lava remains in the area of Lesotho heavily eroded by tributaries of the Orange River.
The Central Plateau
The Central Plateau, apart from the Lesotho Plateau, forms a broad sloping plain from the east, where it is highest, to the west, where it rises only about 1,000 m above the sea. In the south and southwest, the slopes rise between 1,600 and 1,900 m above the sea.
The plateau also slopes downward in the north from latitude 25.o 30' forming a fault line that is 150 million years old, when the continent was barred in this region. The result is the Low Veld of Limpopo (see Veld), a series of grasslands in the north and northeast of South Africa, at about 500 m altitude, about a thousand meters below the High Veld (see below), which is part of the central plateau.
The rivers that drain the plateau generally pour west, through the Orange River, into the Atlantic Ocean. North of the Witwatersrand, the mountain range that separates the watershed between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, drainage is via the Limpopo River.
The coastal plain
The coastal plain, which varies in width from 60 km to 250 km in the northeast, slopes gently from the foot of the Great Escarpment towards the coast. Numerous small rivers drain the area, most abundant in KwaZulu-Natal and the better irrigated mid-eastern regions. To the west, the aridity means that the rivers are much smaller.
The Cape Fold Belt
To the south and southwest of the coastal plain are a series of mountain ranges that run parallel to the coast. They are known as the Cape Fold Mountains, mountains or Cape Fold Belt, whose rocks are between 510 and 350 million years old and form a series of parallel folds by collision from the south of the Falkland Plateau, a remnant marine shelf. of what was then part of Gondwana and which separated from Africa to give rise to South America.
This series of parallel folds is L-shaped with a western section from north to south and an eastern section from east to west, with a total length of about 800 km. The angle of the L takes place in the southwest and gives rise to the Cape Peninsula, where Cape Town is located.
These folds along the coast are no more than 100 km wide. To the west they are separated from the sea by a pronounced coastal plain. The soils in the valleys that separate the ranges consist of fertile soils composed of degraded shale, as opposed to the poor quartzitic sandstone soils of the mountains, on either side of the valleys. The rains are scarce, especially in the small Karoo. Agriculture, vineyards and fruit trees, depends on irrigation from the torrents that come down from the mountains, which are covered with snow in winter. The Little Karoo is famous for its ostrich farms.
The Cape Fold Mountains are separated from the Great Escarpment by a 100-150 km wide plain known as the Lower Karoo, at an altitude of 600-800 m.
The Coast
The South African coastline is fairly straight, with few natural harbours. The reason is that the coast has been uplifted continuously in the last 180 million years, and especially during the last 20 million years. The present coastline was part of the submerged continental shelf, which contains few inlets or caves. By contrast, a sinking coastline, such as Norway's, has strong indentations where rivers or glaciers flow.
Climate
In red, temperate desert; in brown, temperate semiarid; in pink, cold desert; in light brown, cold semi-arid; in lemon yellow, Mediterranean; in dark green, humid subtropical oceanic; in green coastal zone, temperate oceanic; in interior light green, humid subtropical.]] Due to the size of the country, the climate is highly variable depending on the climatic zones. In the south and the highlands, the climate is temperate, while in the northwest the climate is subtropical and in the western part of the country it is semi-arid. The annual average rainfall is 464 mm.
Due to its position in the southern hemisphere, between 22.o and 34.o Yes, the seasons are reversed than in Europe. Since most of the country is a plateau, the climate is mild in summer, but in winter it is cold at night. The climate is drier towards the west, with the exception of the coastal areas.
In the southwestern part of South Africa, the climate is Mediterranean, with wet, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, always the reverse of Europe. In Cape Town, about 500 mm of rain falls annually in just 68 days (8 to 10 mm fall per month in summer, from December to February, with temperatures between 16.oC and 26.oC, and above 80 mm per month in winter, with temperatures of 8.o C to 18.oC between June and August). Due to marine currents, the sea temperature is cold, between 15.oC in August and 19.oC the warmest month, January.
The west coast, fully affected by the cold Benguela current, has an arid climate because the moisture disappears into the sea, forming coastal mists before entering the mainland. South of the Namib desert, at Alexander Bay, on the border with Namibia, about 40 mm fall annually in 11 days. It does not rain between November and February, but the proximity of the cold sea prevents temperatures from rising to 15.oC in winter and 20.oC in summer. On the western plateau near Botswana, in Upington, at 835 m altitude, 190 mm falls in 32 days and temperatures are much higher in summer, between 22 and 34.oC in January, average minimum and maximum in summer, and between 5 and 20.oC in July.
The warmest place in South Africa is at the Augrabies Falls, at 600 m altitude, southwest of Upington, where it reached 48.6.oC in 2016.
The coldest place in the south, exposed to invasions of Antarctic air, is the city of Sutherland, in the arid zone of the Great Karoo, at an altitude of 1,450 m, with a record of -16.oC as of July 2003. July mean lows are -2.oC, and in January 8.oC, with maxima respectively 12 and 27.oC. Here 245 mm fall annually.
In Port Elizabeth, to the east of the south coast, 630 mm falls in 69 days, with rains more spread out in a transition zone between Mediterranean and oceanic climates. Temperatures range from 10-18.oC in July and 18-24.oC January.
On the eastern coast the climate is warmer and more humid. In East London they drop 800mm; in Durban, further north, it exceeds 1000 mm, with more than 100 mm per month between November and May. Temperatures range from 11-23.oC in July and 21-28.oC January. The sea ranges from 22 to 26.oC.
On the plateau, the climate is arid, but it is rainier in the center and east. In Johannesburg, in the eastern part, at 1700 m altitude, 700 mm of rain falls in 91 days, with hardly any rain between May and August. Temperatures range from 2-18.oC in July, cooler, and 15 -27.oC January. It can freeze and snow between June and August. In the Kimberley, further west, at 1,200m, the climate is hotter and drier, with 430mm of precipitation over 50 days and equally cold temperatures in winter, but between 18 and 33.oC in January.
In the extreme northeast, where the Kruger National Park is located, between 300 and 500 m altitude, near Mozambique, the landscape is savannah. In Skukuza, the park's main field, 565mm falls in 65 days, with 10mm between June and August and almost 100mm between December and February. Temperatures between 6 and 26.oC in July, and 21 and 32.oC in January.
In the Limpopo area, on the border with Zimbabwe, there are baobabs and between November and February it is quite hot. North of Durban, tropical cyclones can move in from the Indian Ocean.
Hydrography
The main rivers are the Orange River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean; the Vaal River, its main tributary, and, north of the Witwatersrand, the Limpopo, which rises near Johannesburg and empties into the Indian Ocean.
The Orange River is about 2,100 km long, rising in the mountains of Lesotho at 3,350 m altitude, where it is called the Senqu, and flows northwest through the veld, across the great South African grasslands, on its way to the Atlantic Ocean, forming the border with Namibia in its westernmost and driest section. The Vaal River rises in the northeast, near Swaziland, and flows southwest to its confluence with the Orange. In total, the river drains some 852,000 km² of the country's surface.
The Limpopo River, 1,750 km long, rises in the North West Province at the junction of the Marico and Crocodile rivers and flows northeast marking the border with Botswana for 640 km, and Zimbabwe, before entering in Mozambique and empty into the Indian Ocean. Its main tributaries are the Crocodile, Mogalakwena, Levubu and Olifants rivers. South of the latter, between the escarpment and the sea, are numerous small rivers, including the Komati, Pongolo, Mfolozi, Mgeni and Tugela, which drain most of the KwaZulu-Natal province. The largest is the Tugela River, famous for the Tugela Falls, the second waterfall in the world, with 947 m high in 5 falls.
Interestingly, there are three rivers called Olifants in South Africa, the first is a tributary of the Limpopo; the second Olifants River, 265 km long, drains an area of 46,000 km² in the Western Cape province, together with other rivers such as the Berg and the Bree, which flow into the Atlantic Ocean, and the third Olifants River feeds to the south in the same province, in the Indian Ocean, accompanied by other southern and more eastern rivers such as Mkomazi, Mzimvubu, Great Kei, Great Fish, Sundays and Gourits.
The southernmost point of the country, and therefore of the African continent, is Cape Agulhas.
Hydrology
South Africa is located in a semi-desert region, with annual average rainfall of 450 mm, almost half the world average (860 mm), and is characterized by great variability. Water resources in South Africa are scarce and limited in extent. The country's geology, made up mostly of hard rocks, with little capacity to store water, aggravates the situation. The nature of the precipitations and the relief mean that 60 percent of the resources accumulate in 20 percent of the territory. Water consumption in the year 2000 was 13.3 km³, distributed as follows: domestic consumption 29%; irrigation 59%, industry, mining and electricity generation 8 percent and commercial reforestation 4%, which gives a per capita consumption of 1100 m³ per year. Some 40,000 small farmers, 15,000 medium-sized commercial farmers and some 120,000 temporary workers are involved in irrigation. Hence the need to build numerous reservoirs.
Reservoirs in South Africa
As of January 2009 there were, in South Africa, 1,082 large reservoirs with no less than 15 m high at the dam and between 5 and 15 m high but with more than 3 million m³ capacity. The total number of registered reservoirs is 4,457, of which 4,173 are registered in different categories. Of these, 3,232 have a dam between 5 and 12 m high; 1033, between 12 and 30 m, and 192, more than 30 m. Depending on the capacity of the reservoir, 129 has between 10 and 100 million m³; 54, between 100 and 1,000 million, and 8 between 1,000 and 10,000 million m³ (between 1 and 10 km³, or 1,000 to 10,000 hm³). 75 percent of the dams are less than 12 m high and the swamp less than 1 million cubic meters (1 hm³). The oldest dam is Upper Mpate, near Dundee, built in 1880, with an earthen dam 18 m high and a crest length of 293 m. 76% of the dams are made of loose materials and 22% of concrete (of these, 10% are arch).
The largest reservoirs in South Africa are:
- Gariep reservoir, Orange River, 88 m high, 914 m long, 5,343 hm3 capacity and 352 km2 surface.
- Vanderkloof reservoir (formerly P.K. Le Roux), Orange and Berg rivers, 108 m high, 3.187 hm3 and 133 km2.
- Sterkfontein reservoir, 93 m high, 2.617 hm3 and 67 km2 It is part of the Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme (Drkensberg's phased pumping system), consisting of four reservoirs: Driekloof, joined by Sterkfontein; Kilburn; Woodstock and Driel, with a capacity of 1000 MW.
- Vaal reservoir, Vaal river, 63 m high, 2.610 hm3 and 323 km2.
- Pongolapoort/lago Jizini reservoir, in the Pongola river, 89 m high, 2,267 hm3 and 132 km2.
- Embalse de Bloemhof, in the convergence of the Vaal rivers, the largest tributary of the Orange, and Vet, between the provinces Free and Northwest State, 33 m high on a plain site and 4,270 long in the dam, with 1269 hm3 and 223 km2.
- Rhenosterkop reservoir, in the river Elands, Olifants basin, 36 m high and 515 m long 206 hm3, 36 km2.
- Theewaterskloof reservoir, on the Sonderend River, near Vilersdorp, in Cape West, 480 hm3 and 48 km2.
- Greater Brandvlei reservoir, in a tributary of the Breede river, 21.5 m high and 1,250 m long, 459 hm3 and 41.1 km2.
- Heyshope reservoir, in Mpumalanga, Assegaai river, 28.5 m high and 1.030 m long, 451 hm3 and 50.24 km2 ha.
- Theewaterskloof reservoir, on the Sonderend River, West Cape, 25 m and 646 m, 480 hm3 and 50 km2.
Flora and fauna
South Africa has more than 20,000 different plants, which represent about 10% of all known species in the world, which is why it is considered an area particularly rich in plant biodiversity.
The prevailing biome in the country is grassland, especially in the Highveld, where the predominant flora is grasses, low shrubs and acacias, mainly whitethorn and camel. The vegetation is scarcer towards the northwest, due to the low rainfall.
WWF distinguishes four montane grassland ecoregions within the country:
- High Veld Prairie, Highveld
- Drakensberg mountain range in the Drakensberg, below 2500 metres
- Drkensberg's Altimontana Prairie, Drakensberg, above 2500 metres
- Matorral of Maputaland-Pondoland, in the valleys of the southern foothills of the Drakensberg
Savannah grass and thorns progressively give way to savannah shrubs towards the northeast of the country, with slower growth. There are significant numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern edge of the Kruger National Park.
Numerous habitats for mammals such as lion, leopard, blue wildebeest, kudu, impala, hyena, hippo and giraffe are found in the Bushveld. The Bushveld habitat extends significantly to the northeast, including territories belonging to the Kruger National Park and the Mala Mala Reserve, as well as the Waterberg Biosphere further north. WWF divides the Northeast Savannah region into three ecoregions, running from east to west: Zambezi Mopane Bushveld, Southern African Bushveld, and Kalahari Bushveld.
The desert region of the Karoo, in the west of the country, is divided into three ecoregions: the succulent Karoo, near the coast; the Karoo nama, in the interior (Namaqualand), where there are several species of plants that store water, such as aloes and euphorbias; and finally, and further north, the xeric savannah of the Kalahari.
The Mediterranean fynbos biome, one of the six floral kingdoms, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and consists of more than 9,000 fynbos species, making it one of the richest regions in the world in terms of of Floral Biodiversity. Most plants are hard-leaved perennials with fine, needle-like leaves, such as sclerophyllous plants. Another plant exclusive to South Africa is the genus of proteas, of which there are around 130 different species in this country. WWF divides this region into three ecoregions: lowland fynbos and renosterveld, montane fynbos and renosterveld, and Albany scrub.
Although South Africa has an abundance of flowering plants, it has few forests. Only 1% of South Africa is forest, found almost exclusively on the wet Indian Ocean coastal plane in KwaZulu-Natal: the KwaZulu-Cape Coastal Mosaic Forest and the Maputaland Coastal Mosaic Forest and, further south, the Knysna montane rainforest and the Amatole Mountains. There are even smaller reserves of forests that are out of reach of the fire. Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly non-native eucalyptus and pine. South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades due to overpopulation, uncontrolled patterns of development and deforestation of the XIX.
South Africa is one of the countries most affected by the invasion of alien species (for example Acacia mearnsii, Port Jackson, Hakea, Lantana and Jacaranda) that are a great threat to native biodiversity and the current scarcity of water resources. The original temperate forest found by the first Europeans to settle in this country was ruthlessly exploited until only a few small areas remained. Hardwood trees in South Africa such as Podocarpus latifolius, Ocotea bullata and Olea laurifolia are currently under government protection. Finally, on the Indian coast there are several mangrove enclaves in southern Africa.
Climate change is expected to lead to a significant increase in warming and dryness for this already semi-arid region, with increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods and droughts. According to computer modeling by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) (along with many of its partner institutions), parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature of about 1 °C along the coast, which could reach over 4 °C in the already hot inland areas, such as in the Northern Cape in late spring and summer of 2050.
The Cape Floral Kingdom has been identified as one of the most sensitive hotspots for South African biodiversity, as it will be seriously affected by climate change and is home to an enormous diversity of life. Droughts, increased intensity and frequency of fires, and rising temperatures will lead to the extinction of many of these exotic species. The book Scorched: South Africa's changing climate uses much of the modeling done by SANBI and presents a compilation of travelogue-style essays.
South Africa is home to many endemic animal species, such as the critically endangered riparian rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis) in the Karoo.
Regional geographic divisions
Highveld or Alto Veld
The central plateau is divided into several distinct regions, although the borders are very vague, as a result of the distribution of rainfall. Humidity increases to the east and the climate becomes progressively more arid to the west. The most fertile and humid area of the central plateau is the Highveld or Alto Veld, in its eastern part. Its altitude oscillates between 1500-2000 m. It is highest in the Great Escarpment, in the Drakensberg area, in Mpumalanga, and descends to the south and west. The southern border is usually considered the Orange River, from where the plateau becomes the Great Karoo, except for a small strip to the south of Lesotho included in the High Veld.
To the west, it becomes the dry savannah of Western Griqualand, which ends in the Kalahari desert, with very diffuse borders.
The High Veld incorporates the Free State province and fringes of the northern provinces. It receives between 400 and 1,200 mm of rainfall annually and is primarily a grassy plain, much of it devoted to industrial agriculture, although it also includes South Africa's largest conurbation in Gauteng province, the center of the gold mining industry. There are also important coal mines related to the largest thermal power plants in the country.
The land is generally flat or gently rolling, but a few rocky ridges emerge from the plain: Vredefort Crater, the Witwatersrand Range, and the Magaliesberg Range north of Pretoria, where the High Veld gives way to the bushveld or southern African woodland.
Lowveld or Low Veld
The South African portion of the coastal strip between the Limpopo and the Mpumalanga Drakensberg to the west and the ocean to the east, along with the Limpopo River Valley, is known as the Lowveld. These lowlands, about 500 m high, form South Africa's northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, where a failed rift 180 million years ago sank part of the central plateau and formed the Great Escarpment. The Limpopo and Save rivers flow down from the central plateau and through the Lowveld to the Indian Ocean to the east.
The Limpopo Low Veld extends south east of the Drakensberg escarpment through Mpumalanga province and ends in eastern Swaziland. The southern limit lies between the Mozambique border to the east and the Drakensberg to the west.
This is a region that is warmer and less cultivated than the High Veld, which is why it is known as the country of fever, because malaria, due to the swarms of mosquitoes, is endemic in the area. Before the middle of the 20th century, it was home to the tsetse fly, which transmits sleeping sickness to humans and the nagana to animals, especially the horses of travelers trying to reach the High Veld and the Witwatersrand gold fields from Maputo.
The Low Veld is known for its high concentration of big game, including the largest animals such as elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah, zebra and a wide variety of antelope, while wetlands are plentiful crocodiles and hippos. The avian fauna is abundant as well. Wild fauna is especially concentrated in the Kruger National Park, to the east, in the areas of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, along the border with Mozambique. There are also numerous private game reserves.
Bushveld
The part of the Lower Veld that overlaps with the savannah is known as the bushveld, an ecoregion known as the southern African bushveld, a basin characterized by open herbaceous grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs. With an altitude between 600 and 900 m, the Bushveld is one of the largest and best known igneous complexes in the world, with an extension of 350 by 150 km it has large deposits of platinum and chrome, and large reserves of copper, fluorite, gold, nickel and iron.
The northern edge of the Bushveld, where the plains rise into a series of high plateaus and low ridges, forms the southern edge of the Lower Veld and the valley of the Limpopo River in the Northern Province. These mountains include the 6,500 km² Waterberg Biosphere Reserve and the Soutpansberg Range, which reaches 1,700 m in elevation before plummeting into the Limpopo River Valley and the South Africa-Zimbabwe border.
To the west of the Bushveld, Highveld, and Lowveld is the southern basin of the Kalahari Desert, which borders Namibia and Botswana at elevations between 600 and 900 m.
Karoo
The western section of South Africa, in the inner part of the Cape Fold Belt, is dominated by the Great Karoo, a semi-desert region that is divided by the Great Escarpment in the High Karoo (1,100-1,600 m) and Lower Karoo (600-800 m). Separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg Mountains is the Little Karoo.
In the southwest, running parallel to the coast, the Cape Fold Belt Mountains form a series of L-shaped ridges running north-south, west, and west-east, west. south, which join at the Cape Peninsula. The north-south ranges include the Cederberg and Groot Winterhoek mountains, which reach elevations of 2,000 m. The ranges from west to east include the Svartberg and Langeberg mountains, which exceed 2,200 m. All these mountains form the southern and western boundary of the Great Karoo. The other borders are poorly defined. To the north is the arid Bushmanland of the Northern Cape province; to the northeast, the Orange River could mark the border with the Highveld.
The coldest place in South Africa is in the Roggeveld Mountains, with lows down to -15.o C. Here is the town of Sutherland.
The Little Karoo, separated from the Great Karoo to the north by the Swartberg Ranges, forms a narrow valley 290 km long and 40-60 km wide in the Cape Fold Belt. To the south, it is bounded by the Langeberg-Outeniqua ranges. It is as arid as the Great Karoo, except for the Swartberg Hills, which are well watered by torrents from the mountains. The Little Karoo is the center of ostrich farming, especially around the town of Oudtshoorn (pop. 62,000), the "ostrich capital of the world".
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa that lies entirely below the Great Escarpment, which forms the western and southwestern borders. It is part of the coastal belt (Coastal Belt) that has a width of more than 200 km for the most part. The lowlands along the Indian Ocean coast are very narrow in the south and widen to the north, while the Natal Midlands are made up of rolling hills, a 1000 m high plateau that reaches 1500 m in the west, and the foot of the Great Escarpment, known here as the Drakensberg. This, together with the Lebombo Mountains form the northern mountainous part of the province.
The coastal regions are covered with subtropical scrub, while the ravines and steep slopes of the valleys have Afromontane forests. The midlands are made up of humid grasslands with isolated areas of afromontane forest. The north is made up of humid savannah and in the Drakensberg there are alpine temperate grasslands and shrublands.
Some parts of the Drakensberg that belong to Natal are 2,000 m high, and on the border with Lesotho they reach 3,000 m. The Lebombo Mountains form a narrow range just over 700 m that forms South Africa's border with Mozambique and Swaziland.
There are a large number of rivers that descend from the Drakensberg. These form deep valleys and sometimes gorges, which give the province its undulating appearance. The Valley of a Thousand Hills is particularly spectacular, between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The Tugela River is the largest; some of its water is pumped upstream into the Highveld for the industrial towns of Gauteng.
The province has areas rich in diversity such as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, both World Heritage Sites. Both are Ramsar sites.
Along the eastern coast of South Africa, south of Durban, a phenomenon called the sardine run occurs in which a mass of millions of sardines move north after spawning in the area of the shoal. Agulhas.
Bushmanland
Bushmanland is an arid inland area to the east of Namaqualand. Its northern border is the Orange River, on the other side of which is Namibia. In the south it reaches the northwestern part of the Great Karoo. To the west is Griqualandia Occidental. It is probably the most inhospitable area in South Africa, due to the aridity, poor soil fertility and high salt content of groundwater. As in the Kalahari desert, rainfall is highly variable and the range of temperatures is the highest in the country between January and July. However, the fauna and flora are very interesting, although scattered. Although the veld is too arid to flourish like the western coast of Namaqualand, even with spring rains, when the flowers do appear they are stunningly beautiful.
In the vicinity of the mining town of Aggeneys, near the N14 between Upington and Springbok, an ore rich in zinc, lead, copper and silver has been mined since 1977. Nearby to the east is the Ghaamsberg mountain, rich in zinc deposits, but still unprofitable exploitation.
Between Bushmanland and the northwestern Great Karoo lies the Vaalputs nuclear graveyard, in an area that has been converted into a nature reserve.
Namaqualand
This is the arid region along the northwest coast, from about latitude 31.oS. It extends through Namibia, north of the Orange River, where it is known as Greater Namaqualand or Namaland, and falls within the Northern Cape province. It is sparsely populated, mainly by the Nama people, many of whom speak Afrikaans, and the descendants of the Khoikhoi, whose languages are spoken only in remote areas. The main industries in the region are mining and coastal fishing.
Some of the major towns in the area include Springbok, the region's capital, as well as Kleinzee and Koingnaas, private mining towns owned by De Beers Diamonds Mines. The area is rich in alluvial diamonds, deposited by the Orange River. Another mining town, in Namibia, very close to the border, is Oranjemund, at the mouth of the river. On the South African side is Alexander Bay, and the two are linked by the Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge. The Orange River can be crossed much further inland at the ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, by pontoon, at Vioolsdrif and on Onseepkans.
The fishing industry is very important in the coastal area, especially in Port Nolloth, the port where copper from the Okiep mines and diamonds from Namaqualand leave. Currently fishing and sailing tourism is more important and for all the people of the interior. Another notable port in the same sense is Hondeklipbaai or Hondeklip Bay.
Ocean Currents
Most of the South African border is oceanic. The two oceans that surround it meet at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of South Africa. This territory includes the Prince Edward Islands, almost 2,000 km south of Cape Town, in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean.
The cold Benguela current is an upwelling current due to the movement of the planet, which causes deep cold waters to emerge in the eastern oceans, in this case off the west coast of South Africa. It is rich in nutrients and plankton grows abundantly, which allows for an abundance of fish and a thriving fishing industry. Overfishing, however, threatens to reduce fishing grounds.
On the eastern coast, on the other hand, the warm Agulhas current dominates, which descends along the African coast from Sudan. It does not meet with the cold Benguela current off Cape Agulhas, but rather with the general circulation of the atmosphere in this region, which surrounds Antarctica in the opposite direction, giving rise to one of the stormiest points in the world. planet, hence the Cape of Good Hope is also called the Cape of Storms. The warm current brings rains on the eastern coast, and the cold current prevents them on the western coast.
Protected Areas of South Africa
In South Africa, according to Protected planet, there are 1,544 protected areas, about 98,000 km², 8 percent of the country's total area, and about 186,000 km² of marine areas, 12 percent of territorial waters, 1,542. 560 km². Of these protected areas, 20 are national parks, 25 are marine protected areas, 2 are special reserves, 51 are forest reserves, 12 are wooded wilderness areas, 24 are protected environments, 16 are mountainous areas and 1,359 are nature reserves, most of them of small dimensions. Of the total number of protected areas, 8 are biosphere reserves and 4 are world heritage sites.
There are also 26 Ramsar sites listed as wetlands of international importance, covering an area of 5,630 km².
BirdLife South Africa (BLSA), founded in 1930, lists 112 areas of importance for birds and biodiversity in South Africa.
- Agulhas National Park, 57 km2
- Addo Elefantes National Park, 1,642 km2
- Ais/Richtersveld Cross-Border Park, 5,920 km2, consisting of the Richtersveld National Park (1,624 km2), South Africa, and the Ai-Ais thermal waters region.
- Augrabie National Park, 417 km2
- Bontebok National Park, 28 km2
- Camdeboo National Park, 194 km2
- Garden Route National Park, 1,570 km2, formed by Lake Tide Knysna, Tsitsikamma National Park and Wilderness National Park. The Garden Route (Golden Road, is a 300-km strip that runs the south-west coast of South Africa, from Mosselbaai to the River of the Storms, in the Eastern Cape.
- Golden Gate Highlands National Park, 116 km2
- Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, 960 km2
- Karoo National Park, 768 km2
- Kgalagadi Cross-Border Park, 38,000 km2, consisting of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (100,000 km2), South Africa, and the Gemsbok National Park (28,000 km2), Botswana.
- Kruger National Park, 18.989 km2
- Mapungubwe National Park, 280 km2
- Marakele National Park, 507 km2
- Mokala National Park, 196 km2
- National Park of Mountain Cebra (Mountain Zebra), 284 km2
- Namaqua National Park, 1,350 km2
- Table Mountain National Park, 243 km2
- Tankwa Karoo National Park, 1.216 km2
- National Park of the West Coast, 363 km2
See also
- Annex: South African National Parks
- South African Ramsar Sites
South African ethnic groups
It is estimated that, at the beginning of 2020, there were almost 59 million inhabitants in South Africa, with a density of 49 inhabitants/km², of which 66.7% are urban, with an average age in the country of 27,6 years.
79.4% of the population considers itself black (about 46.8 million), 9.2% considers itself white (5.4 million), 8.8% mestizo (5.2 million) and 2.6% Indian or Asian (1.5 million). There are 11 official languages, Zulu (22.7%), Xhosa (16%), Afrikaans (13.5%), English (9.6%), Sepedi (9.1%), Setswana (6.7%), Sesoto (7.6%), Xitsonga (4.5%), Swazi (2.5%), Tsivenda (2.4%) and Ndebele (2.1%). On the other hand, 81.2% of South Africans consider themselves Christians, 3.7% identify with another faith and 15% with none in particular. It is estimated that 18.8% of the population lives with AIDS, some 7 million individuals. Every 42 seconds, the country has one more inhabitant, about two thousand people a day, discounting deaths. The cities of Johannesburg (4.4 million in the metropolitan area), Cape Town and Ethekwini, with 3.7 and 3.4 million, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay exceed two million inhabitants.