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Little Namaqualand
Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north. Little Namaqualand is within the Namakwa District Municipality, forming part of Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is geographically the largest district in the country, spanning over 26,836 km2. A typical municipality is Kamiesberg Local Municipality. The semidesert Succulent Karoo region experiences hot summers, sparse rainfall, and cold winters.Discover South Africa: Your Online Travel Directory. Discover Namakwa. Great Namaqualand in the Karas Region of Namibia, is sparsely populated by the Namaqua, a Khoikhoi people who have traditionally inhabited the Namaqualand region. Tourism The area’s landscape ranges from an unexploited coast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doorn River Waterfall, Northern Cape
Doorn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. History In a document from 885 to 896, the settlement is called "Thorhem", dwelling of Thor, the God of Thunder. Vikings quartered at Dorestad (now Wijk bij Duurstede) called the place Thorhem because, reputedly, the god of thunder was worshipped there. Indeed, archeological diggings in a moor on the estate of Hoog Moersbergen, north of Doorn, prove that there was a pagan sacrificial site. At the time, the settlement of Thorhem belonged to the homestead of Villa Thorhem. Around 1200, this homestead was in the possession of a provost of the Bishopric of Utrecht. He, or one of his successors, had a castle built in the 14th Century, now Huis Doorn, and a church called the Maartenskerk ("St. Martin's Church") around 1200. The church was extended in the 15th century. It fell into Protestant hands around 1585 and is still in use as a Protestant church. Another castle, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biodiversity Hotspot
A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the concept was revised following thorough analysis by Myers and others into “Hotspots: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions” and a paper published in the journal ''Nature'', both in 2000. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot on Myers' 2000 edition of the hotspot map, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (more than 0.5% of the world's total) as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation. Globally, 36 zones qualify under this definition. These sites support nearly 60% of the world's plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species, with a high share of those species as endemics. Some of these hotspots support up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hondeklipbaai
Hondeklip Bay ( af, Hondeklipbaai, which translates as ''dog stone bay'') is a coastal village in the Namakwa district of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It lies about 95 km south west of the district capital Springbok. This village was originally used as a harbor to export copper ore from the mines around Springbok but was later surpassed by Port Nolloth, which had a safer harbor as well as a railway line. Today Hondeklip Bay is a popular regional holiday destination and serves the fishing and diamond-mining community. Holiday accommodation ranges from camping at the municipal caravan park to self-catering chalets at thHonnehokke Resort Attractions include ship wrecks like thJahleeland the Aristea which ran aground in 2003 and 1945 respectively. In July 2016, the Jahleel started breaking up and split in two. For tourism information, visit thHondeklipwebsite. The mouth of the Spoeg River is located about 18 km SSE down the coast from Hondeklip Bay. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Port Nolloth
Port Nolloth is a town and small domestic seaport in the Namaqualand region on the northwestern coast of South Africa, northwest of Springbok. It is the seat of the Richtersveld Local Municipality. The port was previously a transshipment point for copper from the Okiep mines, and diamonds from the Namaqua coast. Since the 1970s the principal seagoing activities have been fishing and small-vessel tourism. Today the town is a sleepy commercial hub with a number of holiday homes and a caravan park at the adjacent McDougalls Bay. It is also a gateway to the Richtersveld National Park, located to the north along the Orange River. History The bay upon which the port sits was known by the indigenous Namaqua people as ''Aukwatowa'' ("Where the water took away the old man"). Its location was marked by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias on his epic voyage around the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. It was the last landfall he sighted before a wild storm blew his ship off course and ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onseepkans
Onseepkans is a small settlement on the banks of the Orange River in Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a border post with Namibia for traffic between Pofadder in South Africa and Keetmanshoop in Namibia. The name either originated from a combination of three Nama words: ‘tconsiep’ (an elbow projecting into the river), ‘nias’ (a rocky surface), and ‘tcaans’ (thorntrees), or a derivative of a nama word that means 'watering place for cattle'. In 1909, a prospector by the name of Edwells settled in the area. The land was eventually bought from him in 1916 by a group of farmers, who saw potential for irrigation in the area. Ecotourism has been growing ever since the establishment of a riverside campsite and various farm cottages. It is also the entry point for visits to the Ritchie Falls, the second highest waterfall on the Orange River, after the Augrabies Falls. The Ritchie Falls are in a pristine wilderness area, only accessible after a two-day hike or by raf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vioolsdrif
Vioolsdrif is a village on the Orange River in the north-western Namaqualand area of South Africa. Origin of name The name in Afrikaans means 'the ford (shallow river crossing) of the violin'. It is reportedly named after Jan Viool ("John Violin"), who is said to have played the fiddle in these parts in the nineteenth century. Some say he was a Nama man, who used to guide ox-wagons across the ford. An accomplished player, he would fiddle away merrily on the river bank while waiting for wagons to arrive. These claims await elaboration. Geography A road bridge here on the N7 national road links South Africa with Namibia and the town is the South African border post. At the other end of the bridge is the small Namibian village of Noordoewer (meaning "north bank" in Afrikaans). The area is profoundly arid and the crossing is overlooked by steep and spectacular sandstone cliffs hundreds of metres in height. In general, the surrounding region is almost unpopulated. There are s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Oppenheimer
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer (22 May 1880 – 25 November 1957), KStJ was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa. Career Ernest Oppenheimer was born in Landkreis Aichach-Friedberg, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire, the son of Edward Oppenheimer, a cigar merchant, and his wife, Nanette (née Hirschhorn) Oppenheimer. He began his working life at 17, when he entered Dunkelsbuhler & Company, a diamond brokerage in London. His efforts impressed his employer and in 1902, at the age of 22, he was sent to South Africa to represent the company as a buyer in Kimberley, of which he went on to become the mayor from 1912 to 1915. In this role, he helped raise the manpower for the Kimberley Regiment for service during World War I. He became great friends with William Lincoln Honnold, an American engineer and chairman of Transvaal Coal Trust, Brakpan Mines, Springs Mines and The Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Bay, Northern Cape
Alexander Bay () is a town in the extreme north-west of South Africa. It is located on the southern bank of the Orange River mouth. It was named for James Edward Alexander, Sir James Alexander, who was the first person to map the area whilst on a Royal Geographical Society expedition into Namibia in 1836. (It is mistakenly believed by many locals that it was he who first established commercial copper mining in the area.) With diamonds being discovered along the West Coast, Northern Cape, West Coast in 1925, Alexander Bay was established to service the mining industry. The town of Oranjemund lies on the northern bank of the river, which forms the international border with Namibia. The two towns are linked by the Ernest Oppenheimer Bridge, named for Ernest Oppenheimer in 1951. The town is served by Alexander Bay Airport. History Diamonds After diamonds were discovered along this coast in 1925 by Dr Hans Merensky, Alexander Bay became known for its mining activities. The resu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oranjemund
Oranjemund (German for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town of 4,000 inhabitants situated in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest of Namibia, on the northern bank of the Orange River mouth at the border to South Africa. History The entire area along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean was proclaimed restricted (the '' Sperrgebiet'') in 1908 due to the occurrence of alluvial diamonds. Since then the public was forbidden to enter it. In 1927 diamonds were found south of the Orange River in South Africa. Hans Merensky and other prospectors assumed that the northern shore on South West African territory would also have diamonds. A year later they conducted an expedition from Lüderitz to the mouth of the Orange. They found rich deposits on the north bank of the Orange River and the adjacent northern coastline and established a tent camp from which Oranjemund developed. Due to the Great Depression, diamond mining was not taken up until 1935, and a year later workers' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth. Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it (two exceptions are boron and nitrogen). Small numbers of defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange, or red. Diamond also has a ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Beers
De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and coastal mining. It operates in 35 countries and mining takes place in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Canada and Australia. From its inception in 1888 until the start of the 21st century, De Beers controlled 80% to 85% of rough diamond distribution and was considered a monopoly. Competition has since dismantled the complete monopoly; the De Beers Group now sells approximately 29.5% of the world's rough diamond production by value through its global sightholder and auction sales businesses. The company was founded in 1888 by British businessman Cecil Rhodes, who was financed by the South African diamond magnate Alfred Beit and the London-based N M Rothschild & Sons bank. In 1926, Ernest Oppenheimer, a German immigrant to Britain and la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koiingnaas
Koingnaas is a village in Namakwa District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located 65 km south of Kleinzee. Established in 1970, Koingnaas was once a flourishing diamond-mining town and satellite town to Kleinzee Kleinzee is a small village on the west coast of the Northern Cape province in South Africa at the mouth of the Buffels River. It is just south of Grootmis, 72 km south-east of Port Nolloth and 105 km west of Springbok. Previously a .... Since De Beers' departure, the population has fallen rapidly from its peak of about 1,000 inhabitants. References Populated places in the Kamiesberg Local Municipality Populated places established in 1970 1970 establishments in South Africa {{NorthernCape-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
