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Swartberg Altimontane Sandstone Fynbos
The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo. To the north of the range lies the other large semi-arid area in South Africa, the Great Karoo. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2000 m high, making them the tallest mountains in the Western Cape. It is also one of the longest, spanning some 230 km from south of Laingsburg in the west to between Willowmore and Uniondale in the east. Geologically, these mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt. Much of the Swartberg is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The two ranges The Swartberg consists of two officially named ranges, the Smaller and the Greater Swartberg Mountains. ''Klein Swartberge'' The Smaller Swartberg are the westernmost of the two. Ironically, this range is the higher one, including the province's high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seweweekspoortpiek
Seweweekspoortpiek (Afrikaans for ‘Seven Weeks Defile Peak’) is a peak in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is the highest mountain in the Cape Fold Belt and the highest point in the Western Cape province. Along with its western neighbour, Du Toits Peak, it qualifies as an Ultra and these are the only two in the country. It is located in the Klein Swartberg range, close to the Seweweekspoort mountain pass. See also *List of Ultras of Africa This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Africa. Also shown is Mount Catherine in Sinai, Egypt which is not geographically part of Africa. Not listed here are the 5 Ultras of the Can ... References External links * * {{cite web , title=''Peaklist: A website for the mountains of the world based on prominence'', url=http://www.peaklist.org/WWlists/ultras/africa.html, accessdate=2010-03-05 Kannaland Municipality IDP(includes information about Seweweekspoortpiek) Moun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It has 193 member states and 12 associate members, as well as partners in the non-governmental, intergovernmental and private sector. Headquartered at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France, UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global mandate. UNESCO was founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.English summary). Its constitution establishes the agency's goals, governing structure, and operating framework. UNESCO's founding mission, which was shaped by the Second World War, is to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights by facilitating collaboration and dialogue among nations. It pursues this objective t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beaufort West
Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beaufort West Local Municipality, with 34,085 inhabitants in 2011. It is the centre of an agricultural district based mainly on sheep farming, and is a significant town and logistical support hub on the N1 national road. Next door to Beaufort West is the Karoo National Park. Important Permian era fossils have been found in the area to the west of the town. Initially found by David Baird, son of the local magistrate in 1827. The old Town Hall and the Dutch Reformed Church have been declared national monuments. History Beaufort West was the first town to be established in the central Karoo. The town was founded in 1818 and initially named ''Beaufort'' after Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, who was the father of Lord Charles Henry Somerset ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Molteno
Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molteno emigrated to the Cape in 1831 at the age of 17, where he found work as an assistant to the public librarian in Cape Town. At the age of 23 he founded his first company, ''Molteno & Co.'', a trading company that exported wine, wool and aloes to Mauritius and the West Indies, and opened branches around the Cape. In 1841, he undertook Southern Africa's first experimental export of fruit, loading a ship with a range of fruits (necessarily dried, as no refrigeration existed yet) and sending it to Australia to test foreign markets. The experiment ended in disaster when his ship was wrecked in a storm – pushing Molteno close to bankruptcy. Disposing of the remains of his mercantile businesses, he immediately bought some land in the arid Bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Pass
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration throughout history. At lower elevations it may be called a hill pass. A mountain pass is typically formed between two volcanic peaks or created by erosion from water or wind. Overview Mountain passes make use of a gap (landform), gap, saddle (landform), saddle, col or notch (landform), notch. A topographic saddle is analogous to the mathematical concept of a saddle surface, with a saddle point marking the highest point between two valleys and the lowest point along a ridge. On a topographic map, passes are characterized by contour lines with an hourglass shape, which indicates a low spot between two higher points. In the high mountains, a difference of between the summit and the mountain is defined as a mountain pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1870 and 1900–1914, truly established the settlement. With approximately 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest town in the Little Karoo region. The town's economy is primarily reliant on the ostrich farming and tourism industries. Oudtshoorn is home to the world's largest ostrich population, with a number of specialised ostrich breeding farms, such as the Safari Show Farm and the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm , as told by Mnr. Pierre D. Toit. Bhongolethu is a township east of Oudtshoorn. Derived from Xhosa, its name means "our pride". History Settlement The pioneer farmers in the area that would be known as Oudtshoorn arrived in the 1750s, and became well-established in the area by the end of the 18th century. In addition to rearing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cango Caves
The Cango Caves are located in Precambrian limestones at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The principal cave is one of the country's finest, best known, and most popular tourist caves and attracts many visitors from overseas. Although the extensive system of tunnels and chambers go on for over , only about a quarter of this is open to visitors, who may proceed into the cave only in groups supervised by a guide. History Cave paintings and artifacts indicate that the caves were in use throughout prehistory over a long period during the Middle and Later Stone Ages .Goodwin, A.J.H. 1930. The chronology of the Mossel Bay Industry. ''South African Journal of Science''. 27:562-72 The caves were rediscovered in modern times in 1780 by a local farmer named Jacobus Van Zyl.Henry Hall, 1859''Manual of South African Geography: Forming a Companion to the Map of South Africa to 16° South Latitude.''Cape Town: S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamka River
Gamka River ( af, Gamkarivier) is a river located in the Western Cape, South Africa. The name '' means 'Lion' and was probably named so by the San people (Bushmen). The river originates north of Beaufort West, generally flowing southwest towards the Gamkapoort Dam. The main tributaries of the Gamka River, are the Dwyka River, Koekemoers River and Leeuw River which rise in the Great Karoo, converge and flow southwards through the Swartberg Mountains. The Olifants River joins the Gamka River south of Calitzdorp. Together these become the Gourits River. The Gamka River flows from the North East of the Gamka Dam and the Dwyka River from the North West. Both rivers flow into the Gamka Dam from there the Gamka river flows south and becomes the Gourits River at Calitzdorp, where it flows past the similarly named mountains Gamkaberg. Dams in the Gamka River * Doornfontein Dam (capacity ), * Gamka Dam (capacity ), * Springfontein Dam, * Leeu-Gamka Dam (capacity ), * Gamkapoort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ladismith
Ladismith is a town and agricultural centre in the western Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape province. Geography It is situated adjacent to a series of fertile, irrigated valleys, at an elevation of 550 m above sea level, at the southern base of the Swartberg. It is currently included in the southern Kannaland Local Municipality. The nearest towns are Calitzdorp to the east, Vanwyksdorp and Riversdale to the south and Laingsburg to the north. History In 1852 the farm Elandsvlei was set aside for the town, and it became a municipality in 1862. It was named after Lady Juana María Smith, the wife of Sir Harry Smith, one of two towns in South Africa named after her, the other being Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate .... ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klein Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold.Potgieter, D.J. & du Plessis, T.C. (1972) ''Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa''. Vol. 6. pp. 306–307. Nasou, Cape Town.''Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Southern Africa''. (5th Ed. 1993). pp. 78–89. Reader’s Digest Association of South Africa Pty. Ltd., Cape Town. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils. The ǃ’Aukarob formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from Cape Town, and the early adventurers, explorers, hunters, and travelers o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
