BIGGEST, SMALLEST, LONGEST SHORTEST

South African information on tourism, sightseeing, world heritage sites, Cape Town tours and extreme adventures.

SOUTHERN AFRICA'S EXTREMES

Points

The most southerly point in both South Africa and Africa is Cape Agulhas. The most northerly point is North West of Beit Bridge, on the farm Overlvlakte on the Limpopo River. The most central point is Bakenkop on the farm Tenerife, 36 kilometeres west of Kimberley. The most westerly point is Boegoeberg on the Namakwa Coastline. The most easterly point is Boteler Point, off Kosi Bay in KwaZulu - Natal.

Mountains

Highest Mountain

The highest point in Southern Africa is Thabana Ntlenyana in the Maluti Mountais of Lesotho at 3 482 metres. The highest mountain in South Africa is the peak of Makheke in the Drakensberg Mountains, which falls in KwaZulu- Natal. It is 3 461 metres high. The highest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro, which is 5 895 metres high.

Largest Range

The Drakensberg Mountain range stretches over an area of approximately 5 000km. the massive semi-circular range starts in Mpumalanga in the north and stretches down through KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and ends up in the Eastern Cape.

Highest Pass

Tlaeeng Pass in the Maluti Mountains, which is part of the Roof of Africa in the Highlands of Lesotho at 3 275 metres in southern africa's highest road. At 2 600 metres, Naude's Nek between Maclear and Barkly East in the Eastern Cape is the highest pass in South Africa.

Highest Cliffs

The highest cliffs are those forming the amphitheatre at Mont-aux-Sources in the Drakensberg. They have a vertical drop of 760 metres.

Water

Highest Falls

The falls of the Tugela in the Drakensberg are the highest waterfalls in South Africa. The five constituent falls make a drop of 948 meters, which makes it the second highest in the world, the longest single drop is 411 meters.

The highest single drop falls in Southern africa are the Maletsunyane falls in Lesotho with a drop of 192 meters.

Longest River

The Orange River flows for 2 188 kilometres from its source in Lesotho to its mouth in the Atlantic. It has a basin of 1 020 000 square kilometres in the area.

Largest and Deepest Lake

The deepest freshwater lake in South Africa is Lake Sibaya in KwaZulu-Natal. It is 21 metres above sea level and covers an area of 73 square kilometres, with an average depth of 13 metres.

The largest inland lake is Lake Funduzi in the Soutpansberg region of the Limpopo Province. It has an area of 160 hectares and is 4,4km long, with a vary in width of between 0,3 and 0,8 kilometers.

Largest Dam

Southern Africa's largest dam is the Katse Dam on the Malibamatso River in the Highlands of Lesotho. Completed in 1997 the dam wall is 185 metres high, 70 meters long and contains 92 000 square metres of concrete.

Caves

Largest

The Cango Caves in the Swartland Mountains, near Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape, are the largest caves in South Africa. They were discovered in 1780 on Jacobus van Zyl's farm. The nine-metre high pillar known as Cleopatra's Needle is at least 150 000 years old and the main cavern known as Van Zyl's Chamber is 98 metres long, 49 metres wide and 15 metres high with standing room for 5 000 people.

Deepest

The deepest cave in South Africa, and the deepest cavern of its in the world, is Boesmansgat on the farm Mount Carmel between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape's Kalahari district. It is 282 meteres deep and the first persons to dive to its bottom was Numo Gomes in 1996, making a world record dive.

Coastline

South Africa has a double coastline, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, which meet at Cape Point. The coastline measures a total distance of 2 955 kilometres.

Archaeology

Oldest Fossils

The oldest fossils in South Africa were found near Sutherland, Lainsburg and Prince Albert in the Western Cape. They have been reliably identified as being 240 million years old.

Longest Excavation

Sterkfontein Cave is the longest continously running archaelogical excavation in the world, dating back to the 1940's when Robert Broom first excavated there, until now.

Trees

Largest Canopy

Wonderboom, a ficus salicifolia is 23 metres tall with a canopy diameter of 50 metres. It is in its own nature reserve in northern Pretoria.

Tallest Tree

A eucalyptus salinga measuring 73 meters tall is in the Woodbush Reserve 64 kilometres from Polokwane (Pietersburg) in the Limpopo Province.

Largest Circumference and Oldest

An African Baobab in the Limpopo Province is said to be over 3 000 years of age and has a girth of 43 metres.

Salt Pan

Biggest

Grootvloer in the Northern Cape is the largest salt pan in South Africa. It measures 64km by 40km and covers 2 600 square meters. Etosha Pan in the north of Namibia, covering 5 900 square meters in area is the largest in Africa.

WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa boasts four World Heritage Sites at present.

Sterkfontein Caves

Sterkfontein Cave is a palaeoanthropological and archaelogical site and part of the 'Cradle of Humankind', the place where the very first ape-man was found by Dr Robert Broom in 1936. It was declared a World Heritage Site in December 1999.

The ancient cave system has revealed deposits of fossils dating from about 3,5 to 1,5 million years ago and almost 500 skulls and skeletal fossils of early hominids have been discovered.

The Greater St Lucia Wetland Park

The third largest reserve in South Africa, was proclaimed a World Heritage Site on 1 December 1999. It is also a Ramsar site, indicating the area is of international conservation significance, not ony because its wetlands but also because of biological diversity and natural beauty.

Robben Island

Robben Island has become one of the most significant historial sites in South Africa. The last political prisoners were released 1991. In 1996 it was declared a National Monument and a National Museum. The Robben Island Musuem was opened to the public on 1 January 1997 and was declared a World Heritage Site on 1 January 1999.

The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park

South Africa's fourth World Heritage Site was declared on 29 November 2000. It is the country's first mixed (cultural and natural) heritage site, claiming international recognition for both the unique rock art sites and the Drakensberg's natural magnificence.