Laminaria kelp on top of the pinnacle at 13th Apostle PA031640

Temperate Southern Africa is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the temperate waters of southern Africa, where the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

meet. It includes the coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, and reaches into southern

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. It also includes the remote islands of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and Saint-Paul, to the east in the southern Indian Ocean. Temperate Southern Africa is a

marine realm A marine ecoregion is an ecoregion, or ecological region, of the oceans and seas identified and defined based on biogeographic characteristics. Introduction A more complete definition describes them as “Areas of relatively homogeneous species c ...

, one of the great biogeographic divisions of the world's ocean basins. The boundary between the Temperate Southern Africa and Western Indo-Pacific marine realms is near

Lake St. Lucia Lake St Lucia (Lake Saint Lucia) is an estuarine lake system in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the largest estuarine lake in Southern Africa, covering an area of approximately , and falls within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (a Worl ...

, in

near the border with

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. The realm extends up the Atlantic coast of Africa to

Tômbua Tômbua, formerly known as Porto Alexandre, is a city and municipality in Angola, in Namibe Province. The municipality has a population of 55,494 and the city has a population of 46,573 in 2014. It is located on the shore of Porto Alexandre, an im ...

in southern Angola, where it transitions to the Tropical Atlantic realm.

Subdivisions

The Temperate Southern Africa realm is further subdivided into three marine provinces. Benguela province includes the Atlantic portion of the realm, influenced by the cold Benguela Current. Aghulhas province includes the rest of the South Africa's southern and eastern coasts which are influenced by the warm Agulhas Current. The Cape of Good Hope is the boundary between the Benguela and Agulhas provinces. Amsterdam and St. Paul islands are a separate province. The Benguela and Agulhas marine provinces are divided into two marine ecoregions. * Benguela province ** Namib ecoregion ** Namaqua marine ecoregion, Namaqua ecoregion * Agulhas province ** Agulhas ecoregion ** Natal marine ecoregion, Natal ecoregion * Amsterdam–St Paul province **

–Île Saint-Paul, St Paul ecoregion

References

* Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson ''et al.'' "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". ''Bioscience'' Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–58

{{Biomes Temperate Southern Africa, Marine realms Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean

Subdivisions

See also

References