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Geography of South Africa




South Africa is located at the southern end of Africa (How surprising!). This location was pivotal in the development of the country. In the 17th century the Netherlands became the dominant naval power in Europe. At that time Spain and Portugal were well entrenched in the New World as the Americas were known. Instead if risking another war with Spain, the Dutch decided to go to the East. Parts of India, Malaysia, Indonesia and even China became Dutch colonies.

Because the sea journey from Europe to the East was so long, they decided to send some farmers to the Cape of Good Hope to begin a supply station of fresh produce for Dutch ships. There was never really an attempt to colonise the area as its value was determined to be low. However, we shall revisit this a little later.




The country can be divided into various climate zones. The blue at the bottom has a Mediterranean climate (wet winters, dry summers). The population density is quite high and it is the centre of the wine and tourism industries. The main urban area of Cape Town has a population of almost 4 million people.


The dark brown part is called the Karoo (pampas) and is dry with little rain and regular extended droughts. Very few people live here and the biggest town is smaller than Puerto Varas. 

 The Eastern Midlands is a summer rainfall area with a very high population density. It has large cities like East London and Port Elizabeth with a million+ inhabitants.  

The purple section above it is a very mountainous area with elevations of more than 3 500 m in parts. Most of that is situated in the independent country of Lesotho. 

 Just above it, the green parts are called the Highveld. This is a high plateau. It also has a summer rainfall and a lot of the commercial food production takes place here. It has several large urban centres like Johannesburg and Pretoria. It includes the province of Gauteng. Although it comprises only 1,5% of the area, it has 20% of the population. (A little like Santiago in Chile.) It is the economic engine that powers the country, and its supremacy was built on the massive gold mining industry.


KwaZulu-Natal, on the east coast, has a tropical climate. Sugar cane, bananas, mangoes and litchis are grown here. The main urban area around Durban has a population of about 4 million people. The Drakensberg is the source of the Tugela River that flows through it, with the second highest waterfall in the world.


The Lowveld (yellow) is, as the name implies, at a lower elevation than the Highveld. This is a fertile but very warm part of the country. Summer temperatures of more than 40ºC are common. Many of the world famous game reserves are located here.

That leaves only the west and north-west. Similar in climate to the Karoo, it has a very low population density and, except for a narrow band along the Orange River, is only suitable for sheep farming.

 The highest mountain in South Africa is Mt. Mafadi which at 3,459m is about the same as Vn. Tronador. The biggest river (average flow rate) is the Tugela River and the longest is the Orange River.

 Although South Africa has almost twice the area of Chile, much of the interior is not suitable for intensive farming. 


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