Geography of the Northern Cape brought to you by Conference Venues South Africa including Northern Cape's climate, location, topography, mountain ranges and weather
Geography of the Northern Cape brought to you by Conference Venues South Africa including Northern Cape's climate, location, topography, mountain ranges and weather |
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Northern Cape Geography
The Northern Cape is South Africa's largest province, and distances between towns are enormous due to its sparse population. Its size is just shy of the size of the American state of Montana and slightly larger than that of Germany. The province is dominated by the Karoo Basin and consists mostly of sedimentary rocks and some Dolerite intrusions. The south and south-east of the province is high-lying (1200m-1900m) in the Roggeveld and Nuweveld districts. The west coast is dominated by the Namaqualand region, famous for its spring flowers. This area is hilly to mountainous and consists of Granites and other metamorphic rocks. The central areas are generally flat with interspersed salt pans. Kimberlite intrusions punctuate the Karoo rocks, giving the province its most precious natural resource, Diamonds. The north is primarily Kalahari Desert, characterised by parallel red sand dunes and acacia tree dry savanna. Northern Cape has a shoreline in the west on the South Atlantic Ocean. It borders the following areas of Namibia and Botswana: Karas Region, Namibia - north west, Hardap Region, Namibia - far north west, Kgalagadi District, Botswana - north. Domestically, it borders the following provinces: North West - north east.Free State - east, Eastern Cape - south east, Western Cape - south and south west The major river system is the Orange (or Gariep) River Basin, draining the interior of South Africa westwards into the Atlantic Ocean. (The political philosopher Neville Alexander has used the idea of the ‘Garieb’ as a metaphor for nationhood in South Africa, a flowing together, in preference to the rainbow metaphor where the diverse, distinct colours remain distinct). The principal tributary of the Orange is the Vaal River which flows through part of the Northern Cape from the vicinity of Warrenton, which in turn has tributaries within the province, the Harts River and the Riet River with its own major tributary, the Modder River. Above the Orange-Vaal confluence the Seekoei River drains part of the north eastern Karoo into the Orange River above the Van der Kloof Dam. Next downstream from the Orange-Vaal confluence is the Brak River which flows non-perennially from the south and is in turn fed by the Ongers River, rising in the vicinities of Hanover and Richmond respectively. Along the Orange River near the town of Kakamas the Hartebeest River drains the central Karoo. Above Kenhardt the Hartebeest is known as the Sak River which has its source on the northern side of the escarpment, south east of Williston. Further downstream from Kakamas, below the Augrabies Falls, and seldom actually flowing into the Orange River, is the Molopo River, which comes down from the Kalahari in the north. With its tributary, the Nossob River, it defines part of the international boundary between South Africa and Botswana. Further tributaries of the Molopo River include the Kuruman River, fed by the Moshaweng River and Kgokgole River, and the Matlhwaring River. Flowing west into the Atlantic, in Namaqualand, is the Buffels River and, further south, the Groen River.Conference Venues South Africa | Search for Venues with Conference Facilities in South Africa | Browse through available Confernce Venues in South Africa | Conferences Cape Town | Conference Venues in Western Cape | Conference Venues in Eastern Cape | Conference Venues in Northern Cape | Conference Venues in Kwazulu-Natal | Conference Venues in Free State | Conference Venues in Gauteng | Conference Venues in Limpopo Province | Conference Venues in North West Province | Conference Venues in Mpumalanga |South Africa Information | Contact Conference Venues | Web Resources | Conference Venues South Africa Sitemap 1 | Sitemap 2 |
