Is South Africa a plain country or a mountainous country?

South Africa, known as the "rainbow country", has beautiful natural scenery and a wide variety of animals and plants. Traveling around a country is equivalent to traveling around the world, which is the best portrayal of South Africa. South Africa has rich and diverse cultural characteristics, disciplines, wildlife, complete urban and rural planning, first-class road construction, fresh air, hospitable people, and more investment opportunities than European and American countries, attracting thousands of tourists and entrepreneurs to find out.

Overview of nine provinces

Overview of Nine Provinces in South Africa-According to Article 108 of the South African Constitution published in 1996, South Africa and the United States are divided into nine provinces, namely, West Cape Province, eastern cape, KwaZulu Natania, northern cape, Free Province, Northwest Province, gauteng province, PuMalanga Province and Limpopo Province. Each province has its own independent legislature, governor and provincial council. The geographical environment, climate, culture and natural landscape of each province are different.

Population and ethnic groups

According to the census published by 1999, as of June 2002, the population of South Africa was 45,450, of which 78% claimed to be African, 10% was white, 8.6% was brown (commonly known as variegated people) and 2.5% was Asian Indian. Of the total population, 22 million are women. Two-thirds of South Africa's population is "Ng'Uni"; Sotozwana ethnic group including South, North and Sisoto (Zwana); Canadians; The origin of Wenda; Afrikaners (early Dutch immigrants); British descent; Half-blood; Indian descent; Other people of African descent; Europe and Asia, the latter still retains a strong cultural tradition. There are also few descendants of ancient Ku (khoe) and Semu (San). According to the census, there are five most common languages in South Africa: Zulu (22.9%); Xhosa (isixhosa)17.9%; Afrikaans)14.4%; %; sepedi 9.2%； English (8.6%).

Territory and topography

South Africa is located at the southernmost tip of the African continent, with a latitude of 22 to 35, a longitude of17 to 33, and a land area of 12 19090 square kilometers. Its neighbors are Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, and the Kingdom of Lesotho is surrounded by South African territory. The west coast of South Africa is the Atlantic Ocean, and the east and south coasts are the South Indian Ocean. On the Atlantic Ocean, which is 0/920km southeast of Cape Town, there are Prince Edward Island and Marion Island. 1947 merged into South Africa.

South Africa consists of three landforms: one is the inland plateau, and the other is the slope from the inland plateau to the coastline; The area between these two landforms is called steep slope zone, which is the most prominent and coherent landform in South Africa. The steep slopes in South Africa vary in altitude, ranging from 65,438+0,500 meters on the Rogefer slope covered with basalt to 3,482 meters in Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natasha province. The inland steep slope of the South African Plateau is the southern extension of the large non-plateau terrain in the northern Sahara desert. The typical African plateau is characterized by open plains, with an average elevation of about1200m. Across the South African Plateau, it is a well-defined mountain group, with Lesotho mountains as its representative terrain. Generally speaking, the steep slope zone is the highest point of plateau topography. Between the steep slope and the coastline, there is an eastern and southern terrain with a width of 80 to 240 kilometers, and a western terrain with a width of 60 to 80 kilometers. Among them, there are at least three easily recognizable landforms: the eastern plateau slope belt, the cape valley (and its vicinity) belt and the western plateau slope belt.

Ocean and coastline

South Africa is surrounded by the sea on the east, south and west, with a long coastline, which is influenced by two ocean currents: Agulas current in Mozambique is a warm current in the south, extending from the east coast of South Africa to Cape Agulas in the south; The Bangura current extends northward along the west coast of South Africa to southern Angola. The temperature difference between the two ocean currents is part of the reason for the differences in climate and plants between the east and the west of South Africa, and it also causes significant differences in marine life between the two sides. The west coast of South Africa is cold and richer in oxygen, nitrate fertilizer and phosphate than the east coast. Because of this, South Africa's fishing industry is biased towards the west coast rather than the east coast.

South Africa's coastline is uniform and closed, and several uneven coasts are suitable for being turned into ports. On the 3000km coastline of South Africa, the only natural harbor is Saldana Bay on the west coast. But the lack of water in this area is not enough to provide a barrier with the mainland. Most estuaries in South Africa are not suitable as ports, which is due to the blockage caused by large sandbars for many years. Sand bars are formed by periodic sediments brought by waves, tides and steep slopes of most rivers in South Africa. Only the orange river, Limpopper river and other big rivers can cross the sandbar with their strong power. Basically, there are no navigable rivers in South Africa.

Climate and temperature

South Africa is located in the high-pressure subtropical zone below the 30-degree line, with warm and dry climate and abundant sunshine; The terrain surrounded by the sea on three sides also has some influence on the climate of South Africa, especially the Agujas warm current on the east coast and the Benguela cold current on the west coast. Durban on the east coast and Norrath on the west coast have similar latitudes, but the annual average temperature difference between the two cities is at least above six degrees Celsius. There are many strong gusts along the south African coast, especially the southwest coast and the south coast.

The temperature in South Africa has three characteristics. First, the temperature in South Africa is lower than that in North Africa and Australia, mainly because of its high altitude. The second major feature of South Africa's temperature is that although the latitude difference between south and north in South Africa reaches 13 degrees, the annual average temperature in all regions of the country is the same. This is because the terrain of South Africa is high to the northeast, so there is almost no temperature difference from south to north. The third major feature is that the temperature difference between the east and west coasts of South Africa is quite large. As mentioned earlier, this is related to the warm current flowing through the Indian Ocean on the east coast and the cold current flowing through the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast. It is a common phenomenon that the temperature in South Africa exceeds 32 degrees Celsius in summer, and it often exceeds 38 degrees Celsius in the Orange Valley and the lowlands of PuMalanga Province.

Sunshine and rainfall

South Africa is famous for its sunshine in international tourism. Generally speaking, the sunshine in April, May and early winter is the most comfortable. At this time, the rainy season has ended in areas where it rains in summer, but it has not started in areas where it rains in winter. The heat in summer has subsided, and the monsoon is not as strong as in other months. However, in some areas, such as the hot and humid coastal areas of KwaZulunata, PuMalanga and North Province, winter in June and July is the best tourist season.

The annual rainfall in South Africa is 464 mm, far less than the global average annual rainfall of 857 mm. In South Africa, the annual rainfall in 265,438+0% areas is less than 200 mm, the rainfall in 48% areas is between 200 and 600 mm, and only about 30% areas have rainfall over 600 mm, which makes the area with average rainfall less than 500 mm in South Africa reach 65%, which is the lowest in dryland agriculture and animal husbandry.

In Cape Town, winter (June to July) is the season with the most abundant rainfall, while the rainy season in other provinces is from summer165438+1October to 65438+1October, and most of them are cool thunderstorms to disperse the haze.

environmental protection

South Africa attaches importance to environmental protection. Under the direct leadership of the central government, some departments involved in environmental protection have formulated and implemented national environmental protection plans, coordinated and supervised each other, and established a relatively complete environmental protection system.

South Africa's environmental protection departments and local governments have identified 422 environmental protection zones nationwide, including national parks, scenic spots and cultural relics protection zones with relatively concentrated wildlife, and established corresponding research institutions with a total area of 6.73 million hectares.

A good natural environment needs people to create. In South Africa, protecting nature, animals and plants has formed a valuable social atmosphere. South Africans like to say that protecting nature is not only beneficial to themselves, but also to future generations, and it is a matter of infinite merit.