Geography of Southern Africa
By: Anika L. 7th Period
Namib Desert
The Namib Desert is 1,200 miles long. It is known as the worlds oldest deserts, it has existed over 43 million years ago. In the Namib Desert there are dunes, plains, rivers, and foggy coast. In the middle of the Namib Desert there is a park called the Namib Naukluft Park. It is the largest park in Nambia and the third largest in the continet of Africa. The harsh climate in the desert is hard for humans and animals (mammals) to survive. There are only three animals living in the desert today; black-backed jackal, brown hyena, and spotted hyena. These animals are known to adapte to the harsh life of the desert.
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is located in the southern part of South Africa. Cape of Good Hope is made up of rocky promontorys. It was orriginally called Cape of Storms and then renamed Cape of Good Hope, by John II because South America can now be accessed by sea. It was probably call Cape of Storms, because of the harsh weathers and rough seas.
Johannesburg
Johannesburg is a booming city ever since they found a lot of gold. In this city there is the world's largest gold mine. Johannesburg is a big tourist attraction not for gold but for it's plants and animals. For one this city has over 6 million trees in the area. Another reason while tourist would come is because of the many parks and nature reserves and example of these are Kruger National Park and for a nature reserve Emmarentia Dam of the Walter Sisulu National botanical Garden.
Zambezi River
The Zambezi River is the fourth largest river in Africa. The beauty of the river attracts many tourist to just see the river itself. The length of the Zambezi River is 2,700 kilometers. Farmers and fishermen live in the upper part of the Zambezi River so the upper part is free of pollution. The Zambezi River empties into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi River means Great River. Along the course of the Zambezi River we meet Victoria Falls, Kariba, and Cohora Bassa.
Limpopo River
The Limpopo River is in the interior of Africa. The Limpopo River is the second largest river in South Africa. This river is 1,600 kilometers long. The countries that the Limpopo River runs through are Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Mozambique. This river also empties into the Indian Ocean. The Limpopo River is a border that separates Zimbabwe from South Africa. The Limpopo River gets a lot of it's water from a river called the Olifants River. This river supplies water for the villages that live near the river and maybe some more.
Lusaka
Lusaka is beginning to be a boom town, but the road development is not so good because there is at least an hour of traffic in the morning. For many people this might be a perfect economy, but with a bunch of traffic I don't think so. Normally, the people in Zambia in search in jobs and dreams. 60% of the population do not have jobs.
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large basin-like place that is in South Africa. The Kalahari Desert goes into Botswana and Namibia. The Kalahari Desert is 1,000 miles long. The Kalahari Desert is a sand-covered plain. In the west of this desert looks like a long chain of sand dunes. There are some features in the Kalahari Desert that used to be there but are now like gone. For example there are some dry lakes in the area.
Cabinda
Cabinda is an exclave that is in the country Angola. An exclave is a small part of a country that is separated from the main part of the country. There are so many rainforest in Cabinda. Cabinda is also known as Tchiowa.
Orange River
The orange river is one of the largest rivers in Africa. The Orange River is 1,000 miles long. It rises in the Drakensburg Mountains and goes down and empties into the Indian Ocean. Now people call the Orange River the Gariep River. The valley where it lies in does not attracts tourist to the area. The Orange River is very important because it created the diamond fields. When they found diamonds in a certain area they decided to keep that place away from the road so people would not get into the diamond field.
Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls borders two countries called Zambia and Zimbabwe. Some people lived in the area called the Kololo. The Kololo calls Victoria Falls the Smoke that Thunders. I can see why someone would name it that it say the smoke whenever the water in the waterfall hits the lake down below it creates some type of fog of smoke. The part when it says Thunders I can get it because when the water hits the lake it creates a loud sound and when there is a bunch of water it could sound like thunder.