South Africa: Country Profile

There are no glaciers in South Africa any more. As a potential ski-holiday destination, it ranks only slightly above Libya on the 'no thank you' stakes. And whatever you might say about the Dutch-built Castle of Good Hope - the country's oldest extant building - it hasn't quite the historical significance or ambience of the pyramids, or the Colosseum, or even the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe.

But let us concede, however grudgingly, that the tourist board has a point. South Africa is a country of dazzling variety. Not a world in one country, but - given the time restrictions that face the normal tourist - possibly the next best thing.

Where else, in the space of a two-week holiday, could you realistically expect to experience this wide range of riches: the game-rich acacia savannah of the Kruger National Park; the scenic grandeur of the mountainous Cape Winelands.

A city of such stateliness as Cape Town alongside one as brashly modern as Johannesburg; and a 3,000km coastline encompassing both the paradisial subtropical beaches of the Indian Ocean and the captivatingly austere rockscapes of the chillier, drier Atlantic seaboard? Not anywhere else in Africa, that's for sure. Perhaps nowhere else in the world.

Philip Briggs has spent four years travelling around Africa, but now lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the author of eight African travel guide books, including Bradt's Guide to South Africa.

South Africa Factfile

Geography: The Republic of South Africa covers about 472,000 square miles (1,222,000 km2) and is the tenth largest country in Africa. It is five times the size of Britain and twice as big as France. An escarpment, varying between 30 and 160 miles (50-250 kilometres) inland from the coast, divides the coastal belt from the highveld.

There are nine provinces: Northern Province, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Free State, Northern Cape, North West and Western Cape.

Climate: Most of the country has a mild or temperate climate though parts of the northern Cape, the sub-tropical Natal coast and the lowveld bordering Zimbabwe and Botswana become very hot in summer (October to March).

At this time country temperatures average between 60f (15C) at night and 96f (35C)at noon, whilst winter temperatures are between 32f (oc) and 68f (20c). Winters can be frosty but snowfalls are limited to high peaks, notably the Drakensberg and Maluti (Lesotho) mountains.