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South
Africa Information
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South Africa occupies the southernmost part of the African
continent, stretching from 22 to 35° S latitude and from 17° to 33° E longitude.
Its surface area is 1 219090 square kilometres and it shares common boundaries
with the republics of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The Republic of Mozambique
and the Kingdom of Swaziland lie to the northeast while in the southeast, the
mountain kingdom of Lesotho lies completely enclosed by South African territory.
To the west, south and east, South Africa borders on the
Atlantic and Indian oceans. Isolated in the Atlantic some 1 920 km southeast of
Cape Town lie Prince Edward and Marion islands.
Seas Coasts and Rivers
South Africa is surrounded to the west, south and east by the
ocean and has a 3 000 km coastline which is swept by two major ocean currents -
the warm south-flowing Mozambique-Agulhas Current and the cold Benguela. The
former skirts the east and south coasts as far as Cape Agulhas, while the
Benguela Current flows northwards along the west coast as far as southern
Angola.
The contrast in temperature between these two currents partly
accounts for important differences in climate and vegetation between the east
and west coasts of South Africa. The contrast also contributes to the big
differences in marine life. The South African fishing industry is centered on
the west coast, where the cold waters are much richer in oxygen, nitrates,
phosphates and plankton than those of the east coast.
The South African coastline is even, punctuated by few natural
harbours. The only ideal natural harbour along the coastline is Saldanha Bay on
the west coast. However, the area lacks fresh water and offers no natural lines
of penetration to the interior.
Most river mouths are unsuitable for use as harbours since
large sand bars block entry for a large part of the year. These bars are formed
by the action of waves and currents, and by the intermittent flow, heavy
sediment load and steep gradients of most South Aftican rivers. Only the largest
rivers, such as the Orange and Limpopo, maintain narrow permanent channels
through the bars. For much the same reasons, the country has no navigable
rivers.
Relief Features
The surface area of South Africa falls into two major
physiographic features: the interior plateau, and the land between the plateau
and the coast.
Forming the boundary between these two areas is the Great
Escarpment, the most prominent and continuous relief feature of the country. Its
height above sea level varies from approximately I 500 m in the dolerite-capped
Roggeveld in the southwest to a height of3 482 m in the KwaZulu-Natal
Drakensberg.
Inland from the Escarpment lies the interior plateau, which is
the southern continuation of the great African plateau stretching north to the
Sahara Desert. The plateau itself is characterised by wide plains with an
average height of I 200 m above sea level.
Surmounting the plateau in places are a number of well-defined
upland blocks. The dissected Lesotho plateau, which is more than 3 000 m above
sea level, is the most prominent. In general, the Escarpment forms the highest
parts of the plateau.
Between the Great Escarpment and the coast lies an area which
varies in width ftom 80 to 240 km in the east and south to a mere 60 to 80 km in
the west. At least three major subdivisions can be recognised: the eastern
plateau slopes, the Cape folded belt and adjacent regions, and the western
plateau slopes.
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