 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Geography of South Africa" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
  | |
| Continent | Africa |
|---|---|
| Region | Southern Africa |
| Coordinates | 29°00′S24°00′E / 29.000°S 24.000°E /-29.000; 24.000 |
| Area | Ranked 25th |
| • Total | 1,220,813 km2 (471,359 sq mi) |
| Coastline | 2,798 km (1,739 mi) |
| Borders | Total land borders: 4,862 km Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Eswatini 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km |
| Highest point | Mafadi 3,450 metres (11,320 ft) |
| Lowest point | Sea level 0 m |
| Longest river | Orange River 2,200 kilometres (1,400 mi) |
| Largest lake | Lake Chrissie |
| Exclusive economic zone | 1,535,538 km2 (592,875 mi2) |
South Africa occupies the southern tip ofAfrica, its coastline stretching more than 2,850 kilometres (1,770 miles) from the desert border withNamibia on theAtlantic (western) coast southwards around the tip of Africa and then northeast to the border withMozambique on theIndian (eastern) coast. Thelow-lying coastal zone is narrow for much of that distance, soon giving way to a mountainousescarpment (Great Escarpment) that separates the coast from the high inland plateau. In some places, notably the province ofKwaZulu-Natal in the east, a greater distance separates the coast from the escarpment. Although much of the country is classified assemi-arid, it has considerable variation in climate as well astopography. The total land area is 1,220,813 km2 (471,359 mi2). It has the 23rd largestExclusive Economic Zone of 1,535,538 km2 (592,875 mi2).
The South African central plateau contains only two major rivers: theLimpopo (a stretch of which is shared withZimbabwe), and theOrange (with its tributary, theVaal) which runs with a variable flow across the central landscape from east to west, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at theNamibian border.
The eastern and southerncoastal regions are drained by numerous shorter rivers. There are very few coastal rivers along the arid west coast north of 31°30′S.
In such a dry country, dams andirrigation are extremely important: the largest dam is theGariep on the Orange River.
Like much of the African continent south of the Sahara, South Africa's landscape is dominated by a highCentral Plateau surrounded by coastal lowlands. This plateau is rimmed by theGreat Escarpment which extends northwards to about 10° south of theEquator (i.e. intoAngola in the west, and theMuchinga Escarpment in Zambia in the east.[1])
In South Africa the plateau is at its highest in the east where its edge varies in altitude between 2,000 m and 3,300 m. This edge of the plateau, as the land drops sharply to the coastal plain, forms a very high, steepescarpment known as theDrakensberg Mountains. The southern and western extents of the escarpment are not so high as Drakensberg, but also are known by a wide variety of local names, all termed "mountains" (or "berge" inAfrikaans), in spite of being parts of an escarpment whose top is the central plateau, such as Groenberg Mountain. From the coastal plain the escarpment does, however, look like a range of mountains, hence the names.
The portion of the Great Escarpment that could be designated a "mountain" is where it forms the international border betweenKwaZulu-Natal andLesotho. TheLesotho Highlands form a localized high spot on the Central Plateau. This is because it is capped by a 1,400 m thick layer of erosion resistantlava[2] which welled up and spread across most of Southern Africa when it was still part of Gondwana.[3] Most of this lava has eroded away together with a layer ofKaroo sedimentary rocks several kilometres thick on top of which the lava was poured out 182 million years ago. Only a small patch of this lava remains and covers much of Lesotho. It has been deeply eroded by the tributaries of theOrange River which drain these highlands towards the south-west (i.e. away from the Escarpment). This gives this high region its very rugged, mountainous appearance.
The central plateau (apart from the Lesotho Highlands) forms a largely flat, tilted surface which, as indicated above, is highest in the east, sloping gently downwards to the west (at about 1,000 m above sea level). The downward slope to the south is less pronounced (the southern and south-western edges of the plateau are at about 1600 to 1900 m above sea level). The plateau also slopes downwards, northwards from about the 25° 30' S line of latitude, into a 150‑million-year-old failedrift valley which cuts into the central plateau and locally obliterates the Great Escarpment,[3][4] forming what is today known as theLimpopoLowveld at less than 500 m above sea level. The rivers which drain the plateau therefore run west, ultimately, via the Orange River, into the Atlantic Ocean. North of theWitwatersrand, where the land starts to slope down towards the north, the drainage is into theLimpopo River and from there into the Indian Ocean.
The coastal plain, which varies in width from about 60 km in the north-west to over 250 km in the north-east, generally slopes gently downwards from the foot of the escarpment to the coast. Numerous relatively small rivers drain the area, being more numerous in the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Midlands regions, where they arise on the well watered slopes of the high escarpment, than elsewhere. In the west there are very few such rivers because of the aridity of the region.
In the south and south-west the coastal plain contains a series of mountain ranges that run parallel to the coastline. These are theCape Fold Mountains, whose rocks were laid down 510 – 350 million years ago, and were then crumpled into a series of parallel folds by the collision of the Falkland Plateau into the south of what was to become Africa when it was part of Gondwana. These series of parallel folds are in the form of an "L", with the western section running north–south, and the eastern section running east–west, for a total length of about 800 km. The right angle of the "L" occurs in the south-western corner of the country, just inland from theCape Peninsula andCape Town. These folds lie along the coastline in the south and are not much more than 100 km wide in total along most of their length. In the west they are separated from the coast by a pronounced coastal plain.
The floors of the long valleys between the parallel mountains ranges consist of fertile soils composed of weathered mudstones belonging to theBokkeveld Group of theCape Supergroup,[3] as opposed to the nutrient-poor, sandy soils on thequartziticsandstone mountains, on either side of the valleys. However, the rainfall is, in general, low, bordering on the semiarid (or frankly semiarid in, for instance, theLittle Karoo). Agriculture, which includes viniculture and fruit-growing, therefore depends on irrigation from rivers with sources in the mountains, which are frequently covered in snow during winter. The Little Karoo is famous for itsostrich farming, initially, in the late 1800s, for their feathers, but today includes ostrich leather and ostrich meat, which is very lean and particularly tasty.
The Cape Fold Mountains are separated from the Great Escarpment by an approximately 100–150 km wide plain known as theLower Karoo (not to be confused with the "Little Karoo") at an altitude of about 600–800 m above sea level. Geologically and geographically the Cape Fold Mountains and the Great Escarpment are quite different and independent entities.
South Africa's coastline is remarkably smooth, with very few natural harbours. The reason is that Southern Africa has been continuously uplifted for the past 180 million years, and especially so during the past 20 million years.[3] The present coastline was therefore once part of the underwater continental shelf, which contains very few deep ravines or gorges. In contrast, a subsiding coastline, like Norway's, tends to become deeply indented where the sea has flooded old river gorges and glacial valleys.
The Central Plateau is divided into several distinctly different regions (though with very vague boundaries), largely as a result of the rainfall distribution across South Africa: wet in the east and increasingly drier and more arid in the west. The wettest and most fertile portion of the Central Plate is theHighveld, which occupies the central eastern portion of the Plateau. It is generally between 1,500 – 2,100 m above sea level, highest on the edge of the Escarpment to the east (theMpumalangaDrakensberg), and sloping downwards to the south and west. Its southern boundary is often taken to be theOrange River, from where the continuation of the plateau is known as theGreat Karoo, except for a small strip just south ofLesotho which is often included in the Highveld. To the west the Highveld fades into the dry savannah ofGriqualand West, beyond which lies the Kalahari desert. This boundary is very vague. The Highveld therefore encompasses the entireFree State, and an adjoining strip of the Provinces to the north of it. It receives between 400 and 1200 mm of rain annually, and is largely a flat grassland plain. Much of the area is devoted to commercial farming, but it also contains South Africa's largest conurbation in Gauteng Province, the centre of the gold mining industry. But there are also important coal mines on the Highveld which are associated with South Africa's major electricity generating power stations.
The land is generally flat or gently undulating. Only a few rocky ridges protrude from this flatness: theVredefort Dome, theWitwatersrand Ridge and theMagaliesberg just north of Pretoria, from where the Highveld gives way to theBushveld to the north.
The South African portion of the coastal strip between the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Drakensberg and the ocean, together with the Limpopo River valley, is called the Lowveld.[5] These lowlands, below about 500 m (1,640 ft) altitude, form South Africa's northern border withBotswana andZimbabwe, where a 180‑million-year-old failedrift valley cuts intoSouthern Africa's central plateau and locally obliterates theGreat Escarpment.[3][4] TheLimpopo andSave rivers run from the central African highlands via the Lowveld into theIndian Ocean to the east. TheLimpopo Lowveld extends southwards, east of theDrakensbergescarpment throughMpumalanga Province and ultimately into easternEswatini. This southern limb of the Lowveld is bounded by South Africa's border withMozambique to the east, and the north-eastern part of theDrakensberg to the west.[5] This region is generally hotter and less intensely cultivated than the Highveld.
The Lowveld used to be known as "fever country" becausemalaria, carried by mosquitoes, was endemic to almost the entire area. Before the middle of the 20th century, the Lowveld was also home to thetsetse fly, which transmitssleeping sickness to humans andnagana to animals, especially the horses of the travelers trying to reach the Highveld andWitwatersrand Gold Fields fromMaputo.[6]
The Lowveld is known for its high concentration of big game, including the larger animals, likeAfrican elephants,rhino,African buffalo, the big cats (lions,leopards, andcheetahs), theplains zebra, and a wide variety ofantelope, while the slow-flowing streams andwetlands of the Lowveld are a haven for thehippos andcrocodiles. The bird life is also astoundingly abundant and varied. This wildlife is particularly concentrated in theKruger National Park located in the eastern Lowveld areas ofMpumalanga andLimpopo Provinces, along almost the entire border with Mozambique.[7] But many private game farms and game reserves can also be found elsewhere in the Lowveld.
The Lowveld partly overlaps with a dry savannaecoregion known as theBushveld, a basin characterized by open grasslands with scattered trees and bushes. Elevation varies between 600 metres and about 900 metres above sea level. The Bushveld is one of the largest and best known layeredigneous mineral complexes in the world. Covering an area roughly 350 kilometres by 150 kilometres, the Bushveld has extensive deposits ofplatinum andchromium and significant reserves ofcopper,fluorspar,gold,nickel, andiron.
The northern edge of the Bushveld, where the plains rise to a series of high plateaus and low mountain ranges, form the southern edge of the Lowveld and theLimpopo River Valley in Northern Province. These mountains include theWaterberg, and theSoutpansberg Range. The Soutpansberg Range reaches an elevation of 1,700 meters before dropping off into the Limpopo River Valley and the border between South Africa andZimbabwe. West of the Bushveld, Highveld, and Lowveld is the southern basin of theKalahari Desert, which bordersNamibia andBotswana at an elevation of 600 meters to 900 meters.
The western section of South Africa on the inland side of theCape Fold Mountains is dominated by theGreat Karoo, a semi-desert region that is divided by theGreat Escarpment into the Upper Karoo (at an elevation of 1,100–1,600 m) and the Lower Karoo (at an elevation of 600–800 m). Separated from the Great Karoo by theSwartberg mountain range is theLittle Karoo.
In the southwest, running parallel to the coastline, the mountains of the Cape Fold Belt form a series of ranges that run in the form of an "L" by a series running north–south, and another set running east–west, with the junction between the two at theCape Peninsula. The north–south ranges, paralleling the Atlantic coastline, include theCederberg and theGroot Winterhoek and have peaks close to 2,000 metres high. The east–west ranges, paralleling the southern coastline, include the Swartberg and theLangeberg with peaks exceeding 2,200 metres. The mountains of the Cape Fold Belt form the southern and western boundaries of the Great Karoo. The other boundaries of the Great Karoo are arbitrary and ill-defined. To the north the Karoo grades into even more aridBushmanland. To the north-east, theOrange River is often regarded as the boundary between Karoo and theHighveld. To the east the Karoo fades into the grasslands of the Eastern Midlands.
The town ofSutherland is located in theRoggeveld region of the Upper Karoo, with midwinter temperatures as low as −15 °C, and is thought to be the coldest inhabited place in South Africa.
The Little Karoo is separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg mountain range. It lies in a 290 km long, narrow (40–60 km wide) valley in of the Cape Fold Mountains, with the Swartberg range to the north and theLangeberg-Outeniqua range to the south. It is as arid as the Great Karoo, except along the foothills of the Swartberg, which are well-watered by streams that cascade down the mountains. The Little Karoo is the centre of theOstrich farming industry, especially around the town ofOudtshoorn.
KwaZulu-Natal is a South African Province that lies entirely below the Great Escarpment, which forms its western and south-western boundaries. It therefore constitutes part of the South African "Coastal Belt", which is, over much of this region, more than 220 km wide. The region can be subdivided into three distinct geographic areas. Thelowland region along theIndian Ocean coast is extremely narrow in the south, widening in the northern part of the province, while the centralNatal Midlands consist of an undulating hilly, 1,000 m highplateau, rising to 1,500 m towards the west, at the foot of the Great Escarpment. The Great Escarpment, known here as theDrakensberg, together with theLebombo Mountains in the north form the mountainous regions of the province.
The coastal regions are typically covered withsubtropical thickets, while the deeper ravines and steep slopes of the river valleys hostAfromontane Forest. The midlands are covered in moist grasslands with isolated pockets of Afromontane Forest. The north consists, in the main, of moistsavanna habitat, whilst the Drakensberg region hosts mostlyalpinegrassland.
Most of the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg are at an altitude of 2,000 m, but where they form the border withLesotho they rise to over 3,000 m. The Lebombo mountains are a long narrow range, not much higher than 700 m, that runs alongMozambique's border with South Africa andEswatini. From Eswatini the range continues south-eastwards for about 40 km into KwaZulu-Natal.
A great number of rivers arise in the Drakensberg. These have cut fairly deep valleys, and occasionally gorges, into the KwaZulu-Natal landscape giving the province a very hilly appearance. TheValley of a Thousand Hills, betweenDurban andPietermaritzburg, is particularly spectacular. The largest of the rivers is theTugela, portion of whose waters arepumped over the escarpment on to theHighveld to supplement the water supply to the large industrial cities ofGauteng.
The province contains rich areas of biodiversity of a range of flora and fauna. TheiSimangaliso Wetland Park and theuKhahlamba Drakensberg Park have been declaredUNESCOWorld Heritage Sites. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park, along with uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park and Ndumo, arewetlands of international importance formigratory species, and are designated asRamsar sites. South Africa signed the 1971Ramsar Convention to try to conserve and protect important wetlands because of their importance to habitats and numerous species.
The region has a varied yet verdant climate thanks to its diverse, complex topography. Generally, the coast issubtropical with inland regions becoming progressively cooler in winter, but hotter in summer (except on the Escarpment).Durban on the coast has an average annual rainfall of 1010 mm. The average midday temperature during summer (January–March) is 28 °C, with the minimum temperatures in the early morning averaging 21 °C. In winter (June–August) the average maximum temperature is 23 °C, and the minimum is 11 °C. The summer temperatures inPietermaritzburg are similar to those in Durban, but it is considerably cooler in winter. The temperature inLadysmith, further inland, in the Tugela River Valley, reaches 30 °C in the summer, but may drop below freezing point on winter evenings. The Drakensberg can experience heavy winter snow, with light snow occasionally experienced on the highest peaks in summer. The Zululand coastal region, in the north of the province, has a tropical climate with high humidities, supporting manysugar cane farms.
Beaches of KwaZulu-Natal are of world-class quality. The warm coastal climate means that visitors are attracted to them all year round. Some of the visitors, however, come for the annual late-autumn or early-winter "sardine run" along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, south of Durban. Referred to as "the greatest shoal on earth", the sardine run occurs when millions ofsardines migrate from theirspawning grounds south of the southern tip of Africa northward along theEastern Cape coastline toward KwaZulu-Natal. They follow a route close inshore, often resulting in many fish washing up on beaches. The huge shoal of tiny fish can stretch for many kilometres; it is preyed upon by thousands of predators, includinggame fish,sharks, dolphins, andseabirds. Usually the shoals break up and the fish disappear into deeper water around Durban. Scientists have been unable to answer many questions surrounding this exceptional seasonal event.
Bushmanland is an arid area inland fromNamaqualand (see below). Its northern boundary is theOrange River beyond which liesNamibia. In the south it grades into the north-western part of theGreat Karoo. To the west liesGriqualand West. It is probably the most inhospitable area in South Africa, because of its aridity, infertile soil and highly saline groundwater. Together with theKalahari Desert to the north-east, its rainfall is the most highly variable (in percentage deviation from the annual average), and its temperature range the greatest (difference between the average temperature in January and in July) in South Africa.[10] Its wildlife however, both fauna and flora, though sparse, is full of interest. Although the veld is too arid to bloom like that of the West Coast of Namaqualand, even when there is some spring rain, what does appear is highly unusual and often hauntingly beautiful.
A highly productive base metal mine on theAggeneys Farm close to the N14 highway betweenUpington andSpringbok exploits an ore rich in zinc, lead, copper, and silver since 1977. Close by, to the east, isGhaamsberg which has very large zinc deposits, but the ore is low-grade and, therefore, at present, unprofitable to large scale mining.[11]
Vaalputs, a nuclear waste repository, has been sited between Bushmanland and the north-west of the Great Karoo, and acts as ade facto nature reserve.
This is the arid region along the north-western coastline (northwards from approximately the 31°S line of latitude) of South Africa, partly above and partly below theGreat Escarpment. The region extends into Namibia, north of the Orange River, where it is known as "Great Namaqualand", or "Namaland". The South African portion of Namaqualand is known as "Little Namaqualand", and falls within theNorthern Cape Province. The region is sparsely populated, mainly by Afrikaans speaking people ofNama, andKhoikhoi descent. The original Nama and Khoikhoi languages are spoken in only a few remote areas. The main economic activities are mining, and fishing along the coast.
Some of the more prominent towns in this area areSpringbok, being the capital of this region, as well asKleinzee andKoiingnaas, both private mining towns owned byDe Beers Diamond Mines. This area is rich inalluvial diamonds, deposited along the coast by the Orange River.Oranjemund is another mining town along this coast, situated in Namibia, but very much on the border. As the name suggests, it is at the mouth of the Orange River which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia. The town ofAlexander Bay is located on the opposite side of the river mouth (i.e. in South Africa) and is linked to Oranjemund by theErnest Oppenheimer Bridge. Other links crossing the river further upstream are a reintroduced pontoon at Sendelingsdrift in theRichtersveld National Park, and road bridges atVioolsdrif (the main border crossing between the two countries) and at the remote border crossing ofOnseepkans.
A vibrant fishing industry is found along this stretch of the South African west coast, especially inPort Nolloth, which is also a major resort town for people living in the interior of South Africa (e.g.Gauteng), andHondeklipbaai, (or Dogstonebay), so called because of a large boulder outside the town which, when viewed correctly, looks vaguely like a dog sitting down.
The copper bangles worn by the Khoikhoi aroused the interests of the Dutch officials of the Dutch settlement established by Jan van Riebeeck in the Cape in 1652. Several expeditions were consequently mounted to find the source of this copper. A mineshaft was dug in the "Copper Mountains" in northern Namaqualand in 1685, which still can be seen near the disused Carolusberg mine a few kilometers east of Springbok. However commercial mining was only started in 1859, and over the next 140 years vast quantities of ore have been extracted from 23 mines in the area. Springbok and its surrounding towns (Nababeep andOkiep) were the center of this mining activity. But, in the early 2000s the last mine was closed.[12] However, about 115 km further inland, in Bushmanland (see above), a large new mine is extracting copper, lead, zinc, and silver from the "Black Mountain" (originally "Swartberg") deposits atAggeneys since 1977.[11] High grade granite is mined in several places (e.g. near Kamieskroon, and Concordia) in this granite-rich landscape.
Namaqualand is popular with both local and international tourists during early springtime (August - September), when for a short period this normally arid area becomes covered with a kaleidoscope of colour during the flowering season. This is known throughout South Africa as the Namaqualand daisy season, when orange and white daisies, as well as hundreds of other flowering species, spring up from a previously barren landscape.[12] A part of Little Namaqualand, known as theRichtersveld, is a national park and aWorld Heritage Site, while the often-visitedNamaqua National Park and the Goegap Nature Reserve are located short distances from Kamieskroon and Springbok, respectively.
The vast majority of South Africa's border consists of the ocean—or two oceans, which, according to theInternational Hydrographic Organization, officially meet atCape Agulhas, the most southern point of Africa.[13][14] Its territory includesMarion andPrince Edward Islands, nearly 2,000 km (1,243 mi) south ofCape Town in thesub-antarcticIndian Ocean.
The coldBenguela current is a mineral-richupwelling current, which flows away to the north along the western coastline, after having come up from the cold depths of theAtlantic Ocean.Plankton grow in these fertile waters, and support large numbers of fish, and therefore a prosperous (in the past) fishing industry. Over-fishing has, however, reduced the importance of this fishing industry both for the local as well as the country's economy. The east coast has the north-to-south Mozambique/Agulhas Current, which provides warm waters. These two currents have a major effect on the country'sclimate, the ready evaporation of the eastern seas providing generous rainfall while the Benguela current retains its moisture to cause desert conditions in the west.
Several small rivers run into the sea along the coastline, but none is navigable and none provides useful natural harbours. The coastline itself, being fairly smooth, provides only one good natural harbour atSaldanha Bay north of Cape Town. A lack offresh water, however, prevented permanent settlement here until relatively recently. The Bay of Natal looks, on the map, like a good natural harbour, but, in its natural state, it was dry at low tide.[15] Nevertheless, busy harbours now exist at Cape Town,Port Elizabeth,East London,Durban in the Bay of Natal, andRichards Bay. Saldanha Bay is today an important harbour at the end of theSishen–Saldanha railway line for the export of Iron ore from the interior.
| City | Summer | Winter |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Town | 20.1 | 12.6 |
| Durban | 23.8 | 17 |
| Johannesburg | 19.2 | 11.1 |
| Pretoria | 22.2 | 12.9 |
South Africa is largely a dry country, with most of its western regions being semi-desert. The rainfall increases in the east, (the Highveld, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Midlands), and falls primarily in summer. The narrow southern coastal strip receives all-year rainfall in the east (theGarden Route), and winter rainfall in the west (on the Cape Peninsula and its surrounds). The summers are warm to hot, while the winter temperatures can vary, depending on locality from bitterly cold to cool. Thus theKaroo, which occupies a large part of the western Central Plateau, has a climate which is extremely hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter. In contrast, the eastern coastline on the Indian Ocean is lush, well watered and warmed by theMozambique Current; patches ofSouthern Africa mangroves grow along this coast.
The southern coast, part of which is known as theGarden Route, istemperate and green. TheCape Peninsula and surrounds have aMediterranean climate, with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers (becoming hotter in interior valleys). Snow commonly falls in winter on the higher ground of theCape Fold Mountains, during winter. The Cape Peninsula has a reputation for its wind: the dry "South-Easter" which blows almost incessantly in summer (December–February), and the "North-Wester" which accompanies the cold fronts that roll in from the Atlantic during winter (June–August). The vegetation of the Cape area consists offynbos, some grassland andAlbany thickets.
The eastern section of the Karoo does not extend as far north as the western part, giving way to the flat landscape of theFree State, which – though still semi-arid – receives somewhat more rain. North of theVaal River theHighveld is better watered, with an annual rainfall of 760 mm (29.9 in) and a high altitude (around 1,750 m (5,741 ft)) which mitigates the extremes of heat of an inland area at this latitude. Winters are cold, though snow is rare.
Further north and to the east, especially where a drop in altitude beyond the escarpment gives theLowveld its name, the temperature rises. TheTropic of Capricorn slices through the extreme north. Here one finds the typical South AfricanBushveld.
There isskiing in winter in the high mountainous regions: theDrakensberg mountains that form the eastern escarpment along the KwaZulu-Natal/Lesotho border, and on theHex River Mountains of the Cape Fold Belt, but the coldest place in the country isSutherland in the westernRoggeveld region of the Upper Karoo, with minimum midwinter temperatures as low as −15 °C. The deep interior provides the hottest temperatures: in 1948 the mercury hit 51.7 °C (125.06 °F) in theNorthern Cape Kalahari nearUpington.
Climate change in South Africa is expected to bring considerable warming and drying to much of this alreadysemi-arid region, with greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such asheatwaves, flooding and drought. According to computer generatedclimate modelling produced by theSouth African National Biodiversity Institute[17] parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about one degree Celsius along the coast to more than four degrees Celsius in the already hot hinterland such as theNorthern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050. TheCape Floral Kingdom, identified as one of the globalbiodiversity hotspots, is predicted to be hit very hard by climate change. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire and climbing temperatures are expected to push many rare species towards extinction.
Multiple entities are working to combat the effects of degradation and drought. In thePort Elizabeth region, national NGO Living Lands had in cooperation with an agricultural insurance company, planted 3.7 million trees as of late 2015, in order to restore the water catchment system and halt erosion.[18]
South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades, primarily due to overpopulation, sprawling development patterns and deforestation during the 19th century. South Africa is one of the worst affected countries in the world when it comes to invasion by alien species with many (e.g.black wattle,Port Jackson willow,Hakea,Lantana andJacaranda) posing a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the already scarce water resources. The originaltemperate forest found by the first European settlers was exploited ruthlessly until only small patches remained. Currently, South African hardwood trees likereal yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius),stinkwood (Ocotea bullata), and South Africanblack ironwood (Olea laurifolia) are under government protection. Statistics from theSouth African Environmental Affairs department show a record 1215rhinos were killed in 2014.[19]
This is a list of the extreme points of South Africa, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location in the country.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)