South Africa

Relief, tourism, national parks and reservations and flora and fauna from South Africa:

South Africa is the most developed African country and has the most powerful economy in Africa. It is well known in the entire world due to the well organized tourism and for the international promotion of its tourist objectives and attractions. It’s the 25th country in the world as surface and the relief is varied. It includes portions from the Namib Desert in west at the Atlantic Ocean, from the Kalahari Desert in north at the border with Botswana, plateau areas represented by the Great Karoo Plateau from the south and mountainous areas in the south-east and east with Drakensberg Mountains which give the maximum elevation from South Africa in the peak Injasuti of 3.408 m height.

The rest of the territory especially the central part is composed by a high downy area and a plateau called the High Veld with heights that can pass 1.000 m. In its southern part it’s a plain covered by savanna grass. Otherwise a large part of the territory is covered with savannas and pastures transformed in protected areas like national parks and reservations. Among the most visited and best known are Kruger National Park, Mala Reserve, Table Mountain National Park, Karoo National Park and many others (more than 35) that shelter numerous species of flora (baobab, euphorbia, acacia, aloe and more than 20.000 other species) and fauna (elephants, zebras, lions, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, buffaloes, antelopes, gazelles, hyenas).

Climate, rivers, population and religion in South Africa:

The South African climate is changing a lot according to the relief and elevation. Summers are warm, sometimes hot and winters can be cold and dry. The annual average of the temperature is between 10 and 25º C and the rainfall varies between 200 mm in the dry areas and grow from west to east, where are over 1.500 mm per year. Because of the semi-dry land, South-African rivers and lakes are few. The most important rivers are Limpopo and Vaal and the longest river is Orange.

The population is composed from black Africans of the tribes Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho, Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi and Ndebele in a percentage of more than 80% and the rest are Asians and Europeans. The population is mostly concentrated in the east part with more than a half living in cities. The best known person and ex-president (the 1st black president) was Nelson Mandela. The main religion is Christianity and the base activity is the agriculture that brings important earnings to the economy.

Agriculture, resources, industries and economy:

The locals work in agriculture and mostly cultivate vine (known in the entire world and brings nice earnings), sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, citrus, cereals and other diverse fruits and vegetables. They also grow sheep (Africa’s leader), pigs, goats and cattle. South Africa has some of the largest reserves of gold (world’s leader as production), diamonds, gems, platinum, manganese, chrome and many other minerals and resources. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com)

Fishing contributes to the total earnings together with the well developed industries like textile, alimentary, electric, electronic, chemical products, engineering, guns production, woodworking, mineral working and many others. But, above all, the tourism is the main sector of the South-African economy because the country has many protected areas, inedited tourist objectives and attractions, beautiful cities full of culture, a warm climate and amazing beaches that attract more than 8 million tourists annually. Unfortunately the country continues to be affected by conflicts, but especially by one of the highest rates of the criminality in the world. South Africa obtained the independency from Great Britain at 31 May 1910 and became a republic at 31 May 1961. Visit South Africa!

Kogel Bay in South Africa