The Bushveld (from af, bosveld, af, bos 'bush' and af,

veld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Bot ...

) is a sub-tropical woodland

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

. It encompasses most of

Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

and a small part of the

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, the Central and North-East Districts of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

and the Matabeleland South and part of the Matabeleland North provinces of

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. Kruger National Park in South Africa has a number of 'Bushveld' camps. The terms 'bushveld' and '

lowveld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswa ...

' are sometimes used interchangeably, and the line between the two is somewhat blurred, although the lowveld lies in Mpumalanga.

Geography

The elevation of this region varies from 750 to 1,400 m and the annual rainfall ranges from 350 mm in the west to 600 mm in parts of the northeast. There are four significant mountain ranges in this region: the

Magaliesberg The Magaliesberg (historically also known as ''Macalisberg'' or ''Cashan Mountains'') of northern South Africa, is a modest but well-defined mountain range composed mainly of quartzites. It rises at a point south of the Pilanesberg (and the Pi ...

which runs from

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a city at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West province, South Africa (549,575 in 2011 and 626,522 in the 2016 census). In 20 ...

in the west to

Bronkhorstspruit Bronkhorstspruit is a town 50 km east of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along the N4 highway towards Witbank. It also includes three townships called Zithobeni, Rethabiseng and Ekangala. On 18 May 2011, the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipal ...

in the east and forms the southern border of the Bushveld; the

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within t ...

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

that forms the eastern border of the Bushveld and runs from

Tzaneen Tzaneen () is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a region ...

in the north to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

in the south; the Waterberg range that is in the middle of the Bushveld and the

Soutpansberg The Soutpansberg, (formerly ''Zoutpansberg'') meaning "Salt Pan Mountain" in Afrikaans, is a range of mountains in far northern South Africa. It is located in Vhembe District, Limpopo. It is named for the salt pan ( ve, Thavha ya muno, or "plac ...

range just north of

Louis Trichardt Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

. The latter is the northernmost mountain range in South Africa.

Flora and fauna

As implied by the region's name, the Bushveld's grassy plains are dotted by dense clusters of trees and tall shrubs. The grasses found here are generally tall and turn brown or pale in

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

, which is the dry season throughout most of Southern Africa. The undisturbed portions of this habitat, such as much of the

Waterberg Biosphere The Waterberg ( nso, Thaba Meetse) is a mountainous massif of approximately in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. The average height of the mountain range is 600 m with a few peaks rising up to 2000 m above sea level. Vaalwater town is l ...

, are home to many large mammal

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

including

white rhino The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum'') is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists ...

black rhino The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

, giraffe,

blue wildebeest The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae, a ...

kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

, impala and a variety of additional antelope species and other game.

Geology

The Bushveld is one of the most

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

-rich regions of the world. This is due to the

Bushveld igneous complex The Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) is the largest layered igneous intrusion within the Earth's crust. It has been tilted and eroded forming the outcrops around what appears to be the edge of a great geological basin: the Transvaal Basin. It i ...

, an extremely rich saucer-shaped geological formation that stretches over more than 50,000 square kilometers. This formation contains most of the world's reserves of minerals such as

andalusite Andalusite is an aluminium nesosilicate mineral with the chemical formula Al2SiO5. This mineral was called andalousite by Delamétehrie, who thought it came from Andalusia, Spain. It soon became clear that it was a locality error, and that the spe ...

, chromium, fluorspar,

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

and vanadium. The complex includes the

Merensky Reef The Merensky Reef is a layer of igneous rock in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) in the North West, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa which together with an underlying layer, the Upper Group 2 Reef (UG2), contains most o ...

, which is the world's biggest source of

as well as platinum-group metals.

Farming

As most of the region tends to be dry, the Bushveld is mostly

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk production). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf opera ...

and game farming country, with only a few drought-resistant crops such as sorghum and millet being farmed, usually under

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

Middleveld

The term ''Middleveld'' is sometimes used to describe land lying between an elevation of and has been synonymous with the term ''Bushveld''.

Towns and cities

Towns and cities in the region include: * Bela Bela (formerly Warmbaths) * Brits *

De Wildt De Wildt is town with a railway station, police station and post office in North West province of South Africa, 40 km west-north-west of Pretoria. History It was named after the Dutch engineer Mauritz Edgar de Wildt (1855–1907), who in 190 ...

* Haenertsburg *

Hammanskraal Hammanskraal is a functional, trans-provincial region anchored in northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The region consists of multiple, residential, industrial and commercial areas in a decentralized settlement pattern. History The historica ...

Lephalale Lephalale (formerly Ellisras) is a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa immediately east of the Waterberg Coalfield. The town was established as Ellisras in 1960 and named after Patrick Ellis and Piet Erasmus who settled on a ...

(formerly Ellisras) *

Mara
*

Modimolle Modimolle, also known as Nylstroom, is a town located near the southern edge of the Waterberg Massif in Limpopo province, South Africa. It is a medium-sized town that focuses primarily on agriculture and farming (citrus, grapes and cattle) as well ...

(formerly

Nylstroom Modimolle, also known as Nylstroom, is a town located near the southern edge of the Waterberg Massif in Limpopo province, South Africa. It is a medium-sized town that focuses primarily on agriculture and farming (citrus, grapes and cattle) as well ...

) *

Mokopane Mokopane, also known as Potgietersrus, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town name was changed to Mokopane in 2003 in honour of a local Ma Nrebele leader, King Mghombane Gheghana , who ruled the area before being conquered ...

(formerly

Potgietersrus Mokopane, also known as Potgietersrus, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town name was changed to Mokopane in 2003 in honour of a local Ma Nrebele leader, King Mghombane Gheghana , who ruled the area before being conquered ...

) * Mookgophong (formerly Naboomspruit) *

Musina Musina (; formerly Messina) is the northernmost town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Limpopo River with the Sand River and the border to Zimbabwe. It has a population of between 20,000 and 40, ...

(formerly Messina) * Northam *

Phalaborwa Phalaborwa (translated to English as ''better than the south; phala'' means ''better than and borwa'' means ''south'') is a town in the Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Ga-Se ...

* Pienaarsrivier *

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Province ...

(formerly

Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provinc ...

) * Roedtan *

Selebi-Phikwe Selebi-Phikwe (also spelt ''Selibe Phikwe'') is a mining town located in the Central District of Botswana. It had a population of 42,488 in 2022. The town is an administrative district, separate from the surrounding Central District. Mining ...

* Sun City *

Thabazimbi Thabazimbi is an iron mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is at the feet of the Ysterberg and is surrounded by the Witfonteinrand and Boshofberg with the majestic Kransberg in the background. The name Thabazimbi mean ...

*. Tzaneen *

Vaalwater Vaalwater is a small town situated on the Mokolo River in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Geography Location The town, unlike other towns in the Limpopo province, is not located on a national road, of which the nearest one is at Nylstr ...

* Vivo *

Zion City Moria The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) is one of the largest African-initiated churches operating across Southern Africa, and is part of the African Zionism movement. The church's headquarters are at Zion City Moria in Limpopo Province (old Northern ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 24, S, 28, E, type:landmark_region:ZA, display=title Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Botswana Ecoregions of South Africa Ecoregions of Zimbabwe Geography of Matabeleland North Province Geography of Matabeleland South Province Geography of North West (South African province) Grasslands of Botswana Grasslands of South Africa Grasslands of Zimbabwe Geography of Limpopo Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Zambezian region