Southern Africa

Southern Africa

[
right|thumb|350px
legend|#00ff00|Southern African Development Community (SADC)] Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories – including the Republic of South Africa, a successor country to the Union of South Africa.

Definitions and usage

In the UN scheme of geographic regions, five countries constitute Southern Africa:

* Botswana
* Lesotho
* Namibia
* South Africa
* Swaziland

The region is often reckoned to include other territories:
* Angola – also included in Central Africa
* Mozambique and Madagascar – also included in Eastern Africa
* Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – sometimes included in Southern Africa and formerly of the Central African Federation
* Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Mayotte, and Réunion – small island territories in the Indian Ocean and near East Africa mainland.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania, though more commonly reckoned in Central and Eastern Africa respectively, are occasionally included in Southern Africa. "Apropos", the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was established in 1980 to facilitate co-operation in the region, which includes all of the above except Comoros (totalling 15 members).

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU), created in 1969, comprises the five countries in the UN subregion of Southern Africa.

The term "Southern Africa" was also used to refer to South Africa and the "independent" Bantustans that were re-incorporated into South Africa following the end of Apartheid in 1994. Fact|date=February 2007

Another geographic delineation for the region is the portion of Africa south of the Cunene and Zambezi rivers – that is, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and the southern half of Mozambique. This definition is most commonly used in South Africa. Fact|date=February 2007

Some sources consider all of the countries south of the equator as being part of Southern Africa. [http://www.southernafricadirect.com]

Geography

The terrain of Southern Africa is varied, ranging from forest and grasslands to deserts. The region has both low-lying coastal areas, and mountains.

In terms of natural resources, the region has the world's largest resources of platinum and the platinum group elements, chromium, vanadium, and cobalt, as well as uranium, gold, titanium, iron and diamonds.

Economy

The region is distinct from the rest of Africa, with some of its main exports including platinum, diamonds, gold, and uranium, but it is similar in that it shares some of the problems of the rest of the continent. While colonialism has left its mark on the development over the course of history, today poverty, corruption, and HIV/AIDS are some of the biggest factors impeding economic growth. The pursuit of economic and political stability is an important part of the region's goals, as demonstrated by the SADC.

Environmental factors

The region has a wide diversity of ecoregions including grassland, bushveld, karoo, savanna and riparian zones. Even though considerable disturbance has occurred in some regions from habitat loss due to human overpopulation, and there remain significant numbers of various wildlife species, including White Rhino, lion, leopard, impala, kudu, blue Wildebeest, Vervet monkey and elephant.

Culture and peoples

Southern Africa is home to many cultures and people. It was once populated by San, Namaqua and Pygmies in widely-dispersed concentrations. Due to the Bantu expansion which edged the previous peoples to the more remote areas of the region, the majority of ethnic groups in this region, including the Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho, and Shona people, BaLunda, Mbundu, Kikuyu and Luo, speak languages which share common Bantu language traits. The process of colonization and settling resulted in a significant population of European (Afrikaners, Anglo-Africans, Portuguese Africans, etc.) and Indian descent (Cape Malays, Koreans, Tamils, etc.) in many southern African countries.

ee also

*History of Southern Africa
*Sub-Saharan Africa


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Southern Africa — Introduction       southernmost region of the African continent, comprising the countries of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The island nation of Madagascar is excluded… …   Universalium

  • Southern Africa —    Application of the term shaman in this vast region of Africa (ranging from desert and semiarid areas to rain forest and temperate zones and comprising the countries of Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and… …   Historical dictionary of shamanism

  • Southern Africa BC — See also: ADs in Southern Africa, and the Timeline of South African history. Events* 186,000 BC Earliest footprints of humans found in South Africa * 100,000 BC San or Bushmen (hunter gatherers) are gradually displaced by the Khoikhoi (agri… …   Wikipedia

  • Southern Africa Treaty Organization — (SATO) Vorgeschlagene Mitgliedstaaten Angola (portugiesisches Territorium) Mosambique (portugiesisches Territorium) Rhodesien Südafrikanische Union Südwestafrika Insgesamt: 5 Die Southern Africa Treaty Organization, kurz SATO war ein von Ex… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Southern Africa Social Forum — The Southern African Social Forum(SASF) is a Social Forum conference held in Zimbabwe.The SASF is an annual conference held in a different Southern Africa county each year.It is organised in the spirit of the World Social Forum but is not… …   Wikipedia

  • Southern Africa Direct — Infobox TV channel name = Southern Africa Direct logofile = logosize = logoalt = launch = share = share as of = share source = owner = sister names = timeshift names = web = terr avail = Not Available sat serv 1 = Sky Digital sat chan 1 = Channel …   Wikipedia

  • Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division of Seventh-day Adventists — The Southern Africa Indian Ocean Division of Seventh day Adventists (SID) ( [http://www.sidadventist.org/ website] ) is a sub entity General Conference of Seventh day Adventists. Its headquarters are in Irene, Pretoria, the executive capital of… …   Wikipedia

  • Southern Africa, Anglican Church of — ▪ South African Anglican denomination       independent church that is part of the Anglican Communion. It developed from the work of British clergy among the British soldiers and settlers in the Cape of Good Hope in the late 18th and 19th… …   Universalium

  • Anglican Church of Southern Africa — Primate Thabo Makgoba Territory Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Saint Helena, South Africa and Swaziland Members approximately 3 4 million[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Methodist Church of Southern Africa — Part of a series on Methodism John Wesley …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”