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The Northern Cape Province of South Africa
The Northern Cape is known for its un spoiled natural beauty and is home to the Namaqualand region which is famous for its Namaqualand daisies.

About the Northern Cape, South Africa
The capital of the Northern Cape is Kimberley. The Northern Cape is home to the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, which is part of a trans-frontier park with Botswana. It also includes the Augrabies Falls and the diamond mining regions of Kimberley and Alexander Bay. The Orange River flows through the Northern Cape and forms the border with the Free State province of South Africa and with Namibia. Northern Cape has the largest percentage of native speakers of Afrikaans of any province of South Africa.

The Northern Cape province of South Africa is mostly arid to semi-arid and only a few areas in the province receive more than 400mm of rainfall per annum. The western areas of the Northern Cape experiences most if its rainfall in winter, while the east receives most of its moisture from late summer thunderstorms. Many areas experience extreme heat, with hottest temperatures in South Africa measured along the Namibian border. Summers maximums are generally 30°C or higher, sometimes higher than 40°C. Winters are usually frosty and clear, with southern areas of the Northern Cape sometimes becoming bitterly cold.

One of South Africa's largest province, the Northern Cape is sparsely populated and there can be enormous distances between towns. The Northern Cape is just shy of the size of the American state of Montana and slightly larger than that of Germany. The province is dominated by the Karoo Basin and consists mostly of sedimentary rocks and some Dolerite intrusions. The south and south-east of the Northern Cape is high-lying in the Roggeveld and Nuweveld districts. The west coast is hilly to mountainous and consists of Granites and other metamorphic rocks. The central areas of the Northern Cape are generally flat with interspersed salt pans. The northern areas of the province are primarily Kalahari Desert, characterised by parallel red sand dunes and acacia tree dry savanna. The Northern Cape has a shoreline in the west on the South Atlantic Ocean.

The Northern Cape of South Africa is generally divided into three regions namely; the Namaqualand region, Kalahari and Diamond Fields region and Hantam and Upper Karoo region.

The Northern Cape is famous for the diamond mines around the Kimberley area. The economic activity in the Northern Cape is not limited to mining though with a substantial agricultural area around the Orange River which includes most of South Africa's sultana vineyards.

A Short History of the Northern Cape
The Northern Cape was one of three provinces carved out of the Cape Province in 1994 at the end of apartheid in South Africa. The other regions that came out of the Cape Province was the Western Cape to the south and the Eastern Cape to the southeast ...read full article