Geography and Environment of South Africa

South Africa lies at the southern tip of the African continent. South Africa has a narrow coastal zone and an extensive interior plateau with altitudes ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. Lacking arterial rivers or lakes of significance, extensive water conservation and controls are necessary. South Africa is divided into nine provinces: the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northwest and Limpopo Provinces. Both Pretoria and Johannesburg are situated on a high plateau in Gauteng Province. The surrounding countryside is characterized by relatively treeless, rolling hills. The Magaliesberg Mountain Range, more accurately described as a series of low rising hills, lies 30 miles to the north or northeast. The large Hartbeespoort Dam is located in this area. The more impressive Drakensberg Mountains are located 200 miles to the south, where peaks soar to 11,000 feet in neighboring Lesotho. The pine-studded Lebombo Mountains form the eastern boundary of the Johannesburg Consular District in Mpumalanga Province. Scenery in the Free State is flat, with a few buttes in the eastern part of the province. Bloemfontein is the provincial capital and the judicial capital of South Africa. Durban, located on the eastern seaboard of the Indian Ocean, is the principal city in KwaZulu-Natal province and the largest seaport in Africa. Its shoreline extends northeast to southwest along the Indian Ocean. Topographically, the coastal belt of KwaZulu-Natal rises sharply from the ocean to a fertile central plateau and then extends to the escarpment of the Drakensberg Mountains. The Western Cape has the widest range of scenic attractions, including the Mediterranean-like luxuriance of the Cape Peninsula, rolling uplands to the east, excellent surfing beaches, the majestic peaks of the Katberg, the placid lakes of the Wilderness on the south coast of the picturesque Garden Route, and the vast, arid distances of the Karoo to the north and east.

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