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Geography of South Africa

South Africa is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 1,219,090 km² (approx. 470,691 mi²). Continental shelf of South Africa is approximately 156,337 km² (around 60,362 mi²). South Africa is located in Africa. Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent. African countries include, but are not limited to, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Egypt. South Africa has 6 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe. South Africa is not a landlocked country. It means that is is bordered by at least one major body of water. The average elevation range of South Africa is 1,034 m (3,393 ft).

Neighbors

Total length of land borders of South Africa is 5244 kilometers (~2,025 miles). South Africa shares its land borders with 6 different countries, and has the same number of unique land boundaries to neigbouring territories. As in the case of South Africa, if a country has the same number of unique neighboring territories as number of land borders, than that country has no non-contiguous sections of a land border. This is in contrast to several countries that have multiple non-contiguous sections of land borders. South Africa has 6 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. The lengths of the land borders of South Africa with its neighbouring countries are as follows:

Cities

The capital city of South Africa is Pretoria (executive); Bloemfontein (judicial); Cape Town (legislative). The largest cities in South Africa are Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Durban .

Elevation

The average elevation range of South Africa is 1,034 m (3,393 ft). The highest point of South Africa is Mafadi, with its official height being 3450 m (11,319 ft). The lowest point of South Africa is Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean. The elevation difference between the highest (Mafadi) and lowest (Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean) points of South Africa is 3450 m (2 ft).

Area

The total land area of South Africa is 1,219,090 km² (approx. 470,691 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 1,535,538 km² (~592,872 mi²). The continental shelf of South Africa is approximately 156,337 km² (around 60,362 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of South Africa is approximately 2,754,628 km² (~1,063,563 mi²). South Africa is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area.

Forest and arable land

89,170 km² of South Africa's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 7% of all the land in the country. There are 147,609 km² of arable land in South Africa, and it comprises 12% of the country's total territory.

Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.

Natural resources

The most notable natural resources found in South Africa are gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas.