South Africa has remarkably diverse plant life, for a country of its size, comprising about 22,000 different species, many of them native. Grasslands cover most of the plateau areas, resembling a prairie, on the nearly treeless High Veld. The Bush Veld is characterized by savanna vegetation, consisting of mixed grassland with trees and bushes such as the baobab tree in Northern Province and the mopani tree in the central Bush Veld. On the Great Karoo and Little Karoo, the grasslands are sparse. Vegetation consists of coarse desert grasses, that grow in tufts and become green, only after rain. The semi-desert, Northern Cape, is transformed, after spring rains, with blooming wildflowers in the Namaqualand region.
Areas on the Cape Peninsula and about 70,000 sq km (about 27,500 sq miles) of southern Western Cape Province, contain the distinctive fynbos biome, an ecological community. Although relatively small in area, this region constitutes one of the six recognized floral kingdoms of the world. It includes 8,500 plant species, of which more than 6,000 are indigenous. This biome is home to the protea, an evergreen shrub for which South Africa is renowned.
The only significant forests in South Africa, lie along the coasts of Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces, although there are patches of protected rain forest in the Eastern Low Veld. Hardwood species such as yellowwood, ironwood and lemonwood trees, are found in these areas, but softwoods are scarce. Coniferous pines from Europe and North America have been planted, to provide timber and wood pulp.
Numerous large mammals, including lions, elephants, zebras, leopards, monkeys, baboons, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses and antelope, are indigenous to South Africa. For the most part, such animals are found only in game reserves. Much of Kruger National Park, the oldest game reserve, was a protected area, as early as 1898. It covers an area of 19,485 sq km (7,523 sq miles), along the Mozambique border. The Kruger National Park includes nearly every species of indigenous wildlife and is particularly noted for the small black rhino population, built up by the National Parks Board. Other notable reserves include Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in the northwest, Addo Elephant National Park, near Port Elizabeth and Mountain Zebra National Park, near Cradock. Bird life is abundant and includes the larger birds ie ostrich, francolin (a type of partridge), quail, guinea fowl, and grouse. Snakes are common in most of the country.
Only 12 percent of South Africa's land area, is cultivated and only 7 percent, is forested, but the country is rich in mineral resources. South Africa is the world's largest producer of gold, with almost all of it coming from the Witwatersrand. Gold is mined to depths below 3,000 m (10,000 ft), making production expensive. Uranium is also extracted commercially in the Witwatersrand. Vast, easily worked coal seams, occur between Lesotho and Swaziland and South Africa has become a leading coal exporter.
The Bush Veld Igneous Complex, a highly mineralized area of 50,000 sq km (20,000 sq miles), located mainly in Northern Province and Mpumalanga, contains a high proportion of the world reserves, of several important minerals. It contains 69 percent of world reserves, of chrome ore, 45 percent of vanadium and about 90 percent of andalusite, as well as platinum, nickel, and fluorspar. Diamonds are another important source of South Africa's mineral wealth. Most of South Africa's diamond fields are located in the Kimberley area of Northern Cape. This province also has the largest known manganese deposits, in the world.
South Africa enjoys a generally warm climate. Most of the country experiences light rainfall and long hours of sunshine. Rainfall is typically unpredictable. Prolonged droughts often end with severe floods. Only 31 percent of the country, including the Eastern Low Veld and the Drakensberg, has an annual rainfall of more than 600 mm (25 in), 48 percent receives from 200 mm to 600 mm (8 to 24 in), including much of the High Veld, where rainfall diminishes rapidly from east to west. 21 percent, in the west, is arid, with less than 200 mm (8 in). Rain falls primarily in summer, between October and April. In the drier regions of the plateaus, the amount of rainfall and the beginning of the rainy season, vary greatly from year to year. The extreme southwest, has a Mediterranean climate, with westerly winds from the Atlantic, bringing winter rainfall, mostly between June and September.
Since most of South Africa is at a high elevation, temperatures tend to be lower than those of other regions, at similar latitudes. There is a striking difference between temperatures on the east and west coasts. The east coast is influenced by the warm Agulhas current and the west coast, by the cold Benguela current. This results in a temperature difference of 6°C (11°F) in the mean annual temperatures of Durban, on the east coast and Port Nolloth, on the west coast, which are at similar latitudes. Snow is rare, except in the higher parts of the Drakensberg, but winter frosts occur on the higher parts of the plateau.
Thank you, for "visiting" me in South Africa !!
It was funtabulous, having you here !
Hope to see you back again...
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