| About South Africa | ||
| Country | ||
| Size | ||
| The total land area of South Africa is slightly more than 1.2 million square kilometres (3.5 the size of “New Germany”), and it measures some 1 600km from north to south and approximately the same from east to west. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and is bordered to the north by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland and totally encloses the independent kingdom of Lesotho. Isolated, 1 920 km south-east of Cape Town in the Atlantic, lie the Prince Edward and Marion islands, annexed by South Africa in 1947. | ||
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| Provinces |
| Following the 1994 elections, South Africa was organised into nine provinces each with its own Legislature, Premier and executive councils. These comprise the Western Cape with its provincial and national capital of Cape Town, the Eastern Cape with its provincial capital of Bisho, the Northern Cape with its provincial capital of Kimberley, KwaZulu-Natal with its provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg, the Free State with its provincial capital of Bloemfontein, the North West Province with its provincial capital of Mmabatho, Limpopo (formerly called the Northern Province) with its provincial capital of Polokwane (formerly called Pietersburg), Mpumalanga with its provincial capital of Nelspruit, and Gauteng with its provincial capital of Johannesburg. |
| Topography | ||
| The Republic of South Africa lies at the southern end of the African continent South Africa has three major geographical regions, namely plateau, mountains and the coastal belt. The high plateau has sharp escarpments which rise above the plains, or veld. Despite two major river systems, the Limpopo and the Orange, most of the plateau lacks surface water. Along the coastline are sandy beaches and rocky coves, and the vegetation is shrublike. The mountainous regions which run along the coastline from the Cape of Good Hope to the Limpopo Valley in the northeast of the country are split into the Drakensberg, Nuweveldberg and Stormberg ranges. | ||
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 ClimateAlthough the country is classified as semi-arid, it has considerable variation in climate. The great inland Karoo plateau is very dry, and so is the Kalahari Desert. Extremely hot in summer, it can also be icy in winter. In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well watered. The southern coast, part of which is known as the Garden Route, is less tropical but also green, as is the Cape Region all year round. This south-western corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and dry summers, but its most famous climatic characteristic is its wind, which blows virtually all year round, either from the south-east or the north-west. Free State and the Highveld are semi-arid, but saved by its altitude (Johannesburg lies at 1 740m) from subtropical extremes of heat. Winters are cold, though snow is rare. Further north and to the east, especially where a drop in altitude beyond the escarpment gives the Lowveld its name, temperatures rise. |
 RainfallSouth Africa has an average annual rainfall of 450 mm. 65% of the country receives less than 500 mm per year, which is generally accepted as the minimum amount required for successful dry-land farming. In Cape Town, the capital city of the Western Cape, the average rainfall is highest in the winter months, while in the capital cities of the other eight provinces, the average rainfall is highest during summer. South Africa's rainfall is unreliable and unpredictable. Large fluctuations in the average annual rainfall are the rule rather than the exception in most areas of the country. Below-average annual rainfall is more commonly recorded than above-average total annual rainfall. South Africa is periodically afflicted by drastic and prolonged droughts, which often end in severe floods. |
| Temperatures | ||
| Temperature conditions in South Africa are characterised by three main features. Firstly, temperatures tend to be lower than in other regions at similar latitudes, for example, Australia. This is due primarily to the greater elevation of the subcontinent above sea level. Secondly, despite a latitudinal span of 13 degrees, average annual temperatures are remarkably uniform throughout the country. Owing to the increase in the height of the plateau towards the north-east, there is hardly any increase in temperature from south to north as might be expected. The third feature is the striking contrast between temperatures on the east and west coasts. | ||
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| Temperature chart of the main cities | |||||
| Cape Town | Durban | Johannesburg | Port Elizabeth | Bloemfontain | |
| Summer | 14-25 | 19-27 | 14-25 | 15-24 | 13-29 |
| Autumn | 11-22 | 17-25 | 07-21 | 13-22 | 07-22 |
| Winter | 06-17 | 11-22 | 05-17 | 08-19 | 02-17 |
| Spring | 13-20 | 15-23 | 10-23 | 11-20 | 07-25 |