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Summaries · Grade 5 Geography › Physical features of South Africa
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Physical features of South Africa

South Africa’s mountains, plateau, Karoo, rivers and coast, and why the east is wetter than the west. Read one part at a time and tap “I know this”. Then test yourself in the quiz.

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A high plateau in the middle

The middle of South Africa is a big, high and flat area: the plateau. Its high, grassy part is called the Highveld. Around the plateau runs the Great Escarpment, a steep edge where the land drops towards the coast. The hot, low area below the escarpment in the north-east is the Lowveld.

Escarpment
The escarpment: a steep edge between the high plateau and the low coastal plain.
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Mountains and dry regions

  • The Drakensberg is our highest mountain range. Mafadi is South Africa’s highest peak.
  • Table Mountain stands above Cape Town.
  • The Great Karoo is a big, dry semi-desert in the interior, north of the Swartberg mountains. The Little Karoo is a smaller, dry valley further south, between the mountains around Oudtshoorn.
  • The Kalahari is a sandy semi-desert in the north-west.
The high Drakensberg and the dry Karoo.
The high Drakensberg and the dry Karoo.
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Rivers and the coast

  • The Orange River is our longest river; it forms much of the border with Namibia.
  • A perennial river flows all year round, like the Orange. A non-perennial river flows only after rain and is dry for part of the year.
  • Where a river reaches the sea is the river mouth.
  • A peninsula is land with water on three sides.

The Atlantic Ocean lies on the west coast and the Indian Ocean on the east coast. They officially meet at Cape Agulhas.

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Why the west is dry

The cold Benguela Current flows along the west coast. A cold sea gives off little water vapour, so few rain clouds form. The warm Indian Ocean in the east gives off lots of moisture, so the east gets the most rain.

Rule

Farming, building roads and mining are human activities, not physical features.

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More regions and features of South Africa

Region or featureWhere
Little KarooA dry valley between the mountains of the Southern Cape, around Oudtshoorn
NamaqualandThe dry west coast of the Northern Cape, known for its spring flowers
Cape PointThe southern tip of the Cape Peninsula, near Cape Town. (Africa’s southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, not Cape Point.)
Algoa BayA large bay at Gqeberha
Lake St LuciaKwaZulu-Natal’s coast, in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park
WaterbergA mountain range in Limpopo
Rule

A cape sticks out into the sea; a bay curves in towards the land.

Some place names come from physical features: Table Mountain’s top is flat like a table; Drakensberg means “dragon mountains”, and its Zulu name uKhahlamba means “barrier of spears”; Witwatersrand means “ridge of white waters”, after the streams that run down the ridge.

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Remember this and test yourself

Remember this: your summary
  • The interior is a high, flat plateau; the Highveld is its high, grassy part.
  • The Great Escarpment is the steep edge where the plateau drops towards the coast.
  • The Drakensberg is our highest mountain range; the Orange River is our longest river.
  • The Karoo and the Kalahari are dry semi-deserts.
  • The west coast is dry because the cold Benguela Current gives off little moisture; the east gets the most rain.

Write these points in your book. Read them again the night before the test.

Memory trick

South Africa is like an upside-down plate: high and flat in the middle (plateau), a steep edge (escarpment) and a narrow, low rim (coastal plain).

Flash cards · Tap to turn over

Important words

First say what the word means, then turn the card over.

Test yourself · Part 2

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