Northern Cape Travel Guide

The Northern Cape is located south of the great Orange River which provides for the agriculture and diamonds industries. The Orange River forms the border with Namibia in the north. The province covers a third of South Africa, yet it has the smallest population of all the provinces. The Northern Cape is renowned for its vast arid plains, its beautiful and serene semi-desert landscapes, diamond diggings and fascinating San rock art. It is home to interesting and sometimes strange fauna and flora. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is one of the largest nature reserves in the world, being 3.7 million hectares in size. One of the highlights when visiting the Northern Cape is the Augrabies Falls National Park, where the Orange River rumbles through a gorge and drops 56 meters, creating the sixth largest waterfall in the world. Another must see is the wild flowers of the Namaqualand which can be seen almost immediately after the first spring rains arrive.

The Northern Cape has little rainfall in summer. The province is a semi-arid region with extreme weather conditions. It has exceedingly high temperatures in summer and is cold and frosty in winter.

Afrikaans is the primary language in the Northern Cape, followed by Setswana and English.

Kimberley, also known as “The Diamond Capital of the World”, is the capital city of the Northern Cape. Kimberly is synonymous with diamond mining and mining magnates who changed the South African economy forever. Other important towns include Upington and Kakamas, where grapes and fruit are cultivated intensively. This region is the most northerly wine making region of South Africa. The province also depends on sheep farming. Springbok lies in the heart of Namaqualand and Sutherland is the location of the southern hemisphere’s largest astronomical observatory.

Fact Sheet: Northern Cape
Population	1 089 991 (2006)
Capital	Kimberley
Area	372 889 square kilometres
Population density	3 people per square kilometre
Gross regional product	R29.7-billion (2003)
Share of total GDP	2.4%