South Africa
REGIONS
On many levels, South Africa is a diverse country. This is not only visible in animals and vegetation, but also on a geographical level. If you look at the landmass of South Africa, it can be divided into two categories: the interior plateau and the land between the plateau and the coast. These two categories are separated by the Great Escarpment, the most prominent relief feature in the country.
The escarpment runs parallel to the coastline, from the Northern Cape in the west all the way up north in the Limpopo province in the east. The height varies between 1500m to almost 3500m above sea level. The high peaks and deep valleys of the escarpment create many micro climates and often prevents the rain from reaching the interior plateau.
This diversity in landscape and climate ensures that South Africa has 9 different biomes (a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation and animals). These biomes range from dry and arid (almost dessert like) conditions to subtropic forests, from savanna and grassland to the vegetation richness of the Fynbos.
Just off shore you can see the same diversity. The African continent lies between two different oceans and at the southern tip, they collide. From the east, the warm waters of the Indian Ocean pass along the coastline to the west. At the same time from the south, the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean pass along the west coast to the north. Somewhere around Cape Agulhas these two currents meet, and clash. Creating nutrient rich waters where marine life can thrive, but also account for significant differences in climate.
The regions in South Africa tell the same story of diversity. They can be very mountainous or relatively flat, very lush and green or arid and rocky, they can support many large grazers and predators or hardly any large mammals at all.
All of these things ensure that South Africa ranks very high on the diversity scale. Just 1% of the total land of the world, provides 10% of all the bird, fish and plant species and 6% of all the mammal and reptile species. It is often said that South Africa has the diversity of an entire continent within its borders.
