Facts about Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African Continent, variable defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.

In the UN scheme of geographic regions, five countries constitute Southern Africa namely: Botswana, Lesotho. Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland. The Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), created in 1969, also comprises the five countries in the UN sub-region of Southern Africa.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was established in 1980 to facilitate co-operation in the region, it includes:- Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

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.

Southern Africa has a wide diversity of eco-regions including grassland, bushveld, karoo, savannah and riparian zones. Even through considerable disturbance has occurred in some regions from habitat loss due to human over population or export-focused development, there remain significant numbers of various wildlife species, including white Rhino, lion, Leopard, Impala, Kudu, Blue wildebeest, Vervet Monkey and Elephant. It has complex plateaus that create massive mountain structures along the South African border.

Now we will know about each country in Africa, by taking them alphabetically.