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South African Weather Service
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) is the meteorological service under the South African government's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. SAWS is a member of the World Meteorological Organization. Under the South African Weather Service Act (No. 8 of 2001) effective 15 July 2001, SAWS became a public entity. Data acquisition Weather stations South Africa operates a significant number of weather stations in South Africa as well as stations at Gough Island, Marion Island and Antarctica in cooperation with the South African National Antarctic Programme. Weather radar Near real-time (''~5 minutes delay'') weather radar is available for most of the country, even within the Kruger National Park. Marine weather buoys Between 30 and 40 drifting weather buoys are deployed annually. Weather modification The SAWS, in cooperation with a number of other entities, is actively involved in weather control research under the ''South African National Precipi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and center of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. It also hosts the National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards. Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including Bronkhorstspruit, Centurion, Cullinan, Hammanskraal and Soshanguve. Some have proposed ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bethlehem, Free State
Bethlehem is a town in the eastern Free State province of South Africa that is situated on the Liebenbergs river (also called Liebenbergs Vlei) along a fertile valley just north of the Rooiberg Mountains on the N5 road. It is the fastest growing town in the Free state province, with its target of being the third largest city after Bloemfontein and Welkom. It is a wheat growing area and named after the biblical Bethlehem, from he, בֵּית לֶחֶם ("Beit Lechem"), meaning "house of bread". The town lies at an altitude of and this contributes to its cool climate with frosty winters and mild summers. The average annual temperature is around . Bethlehem is situated approximately north-east of Bloemfontein, east of Kroonstad and west of Harrismith. The town is strategically situated in the heart of the picturesque north-eastern Free State and originally developed as a service centre. Bethlehem is the seat of the Dihlabeng Local Municipality (this municipality is situat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Aar
De Aar is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It has a population of around 42,000 inhabitants. It is the second-most important railway junction in the country, situated on the line between Cape Town and Kimberley. The junction was of particular strategic importance to the British during the Second Boer War. De Aar is also a primary commercial distribution centre for a large area of the central Great Karoo. Major production activities of the area include wool production and livestock farming. The area is also popular for hunting, although the region is rather arid. De Aar is also affectionately known as "Die SES" deriving its nickname from the six farms that have surrounded De Aar since the 1900s. History De Aar was originally established on the Farm "De Aar." The name means "the artery," a reference to its underground water supply. The Cape Government Railways were founded in 1872, and the route that the government chose for the line to connect the Kimberle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cradock, Eastern Cape
Cradock is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, in the upper valley of the Great Fish River, by road northeast of Port Elizabeth. The town is the administrative seat of the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality in the Chris Hani District of the Eastern Cape. The town is named after John Cradock, governor of the Cape Colony and commander of the forces. Pre-colonial history For thousands of years San hunter-gatherers were the sole human inhabitants of southern Africa. About 2000 years BP the semi-nomadic Khoikhoi (or Khoekhoen or Khoikhoin) arrived with cattle, sheep and goats. These pastoralists migrated south towards the coast. Rock paintings and petroglyphs (engravings) remain as evidence of the first people who lived here. By the 4th century AD Bantu-speaking people had begun to migrate from central Africa down the east coast into southern Africa. The amaXhosa pressed further south to the banks of the Great Fish River where they met San hunter-gatherer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carolina, Mpumalanga
Carolina is an urban-rural area situated on the Johannesburg to Eswatini route ( R33 and R38) in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The town lies in the grass and wetlands region of Mpumalanga at 1700 meters above sea level. It is a mixed farming and small-scale coal- and precious-stone-mining community. History Carolina was established by Cornelius Johannes Coetzee as a permanent outspan for wagons when gold was discovered in 1883 in Barberton. The town of Carolina was proclaimed on 15 June 1886 and named after his wife Magdalena Carolina Smit. The town was built on portions of the farms Groenvlei and Goedehoop and the first stands were sold in 1883. Carolina was rebuilt after it was razed in 1900 during the Second Boer War. A few examples of sandstone architecture are still to be found among Carolina's public buildings. The sandstone Grobler Bridge which crosses the Komati River on the present R36 route to Machadodorp was opened for traffic in 1897. It was named after J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport is the primary international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second-busiest airport in South Africa and fourth-busiest in Africa. Located approximately from the city center, the airport was opened in 1954 to replace Cape Town's previous airport, Wingfield Aerodrome. Cape Town International Airport is the only airport in the Cape Town metropolitan area that offers scheduled passenger services. The airport has domestic and international terminals, linked by a common central terminal. The airport has direct flights from South Africa's other two main urban areas, Johannesburg and Durban, as well as flights to smaller centers in South Africa. Internationally, it has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the United States. The air route between Cape Town and Johannesburg was the world's ninth-busiest air route in 2011 with an estimated 4.5 million passengers. History D.F. Malan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Saint Lucia
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. They have had periodic returns to fashion - for example, in nineteenth-century Europe. Roman Catholic clergy wear a type of cape known as a ferraiolo, which is worn for formal events outside a ritualistic context. The cope is a liturgical vestment in the form of a cape. Capes are often highly decorated with elaborate embroidery. Capes remain in regular use as rainwear in various military units and police forces, in France for example. A gas cape was a voluminous military garment designed to give rain protection to someone wearing the bulky gas masks used in twentieth-century wars. Rich noblemen and elite warriors of the Aztec Empire would wear a tilmàtli; a Mesoamerican cloak/cape used as a symbol of their upper status. Cloth and clothing wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Saint Francis
Cape St. Francis ( af, Kaap St Francis) is a village in South Africa, situated on a headland in the Eastern Cape Province. It is popular for its clean beaches and as a surfing location. The village is home to the Seal Point Lighthouse. The Irma Booysen Floral Reserve is the home to many species of flowers and plants. The adjacent village, St Francis Bay, was the site of "ten-million-to-one" surfing waves seen in the 1966 surf/travel documentary, ''The Endless Summer''. Cape St. Francis is now known as one of the best surfing locations. Given its geological location, it is susceptible to swell year round from large low pressure systems that form between Antarctica and the southern tip of Africa. When large south west swells wrap around Seal Point and the prevailing offshore winds come up, the surfing is world class. It is also featured in the 2014 film The Perfect Wave, starring Scott Eastwood. Bartolomeu Dias originally named the cape Ponta das Quiemadas because of the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Point
Cape Point ( af, Kaappunt) is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula, a mountainous and scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres at the extreme southwestern tip of the African continent in South Africa. Table Mountain and the city of Cape Town are close to the northern extremity of the same peninsula. The cape is located at , about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) east and a little north of the Cape of Good Hope on the southwest corner. Although these two rocky capes are very well known, neither cape is actually the southernmost point of the mainland of Africa; that is Cape Agulhas, approximately to the east-southeast. Peaks The peak above Cape Point is higher than that above the Cape of Good Hope. The rugged sandstone ( Table Mountain sandstone) ridge that rises from Cape Point at sea level develops into two peaks. There is a major peak that dominates the skyline locally, but there is also a smaller peak about 100 m (328 ft) furt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Columbine
Cape Columbine is well known for its lighthouse, the last staffed lighthouse built on the South African coast The Cape Columbine Lighthouse was commissioned on October 1, 1936. Both the headland and lighthouse derive their name from the barque Columbine, that was wrecked 1.5 km North of the lighthouse on March 31, 182 South African lighthouse firsts * First to receive three navigational aids: light, a fog signal and a radio beacon. * First lens system designed for use with a 4 kW incandescent light bulb, incandescent electric lamp. Shipwrecks Several ships were wrecked in the area, which is known for its multitude of submerged rocks and reefs. * Columbine 1829 * 1899 * SS Saint Lawrence 1876 * SS Lisboa 1910 * SS Haddon Hall 1913 * SS Malmesbury 1930 * Haleric 1932 * Da Gama 1979 * SS Columbine 1944 (Torpedoed) Climate Surrounds The Columbine Nature Reserve surrounds Cape Columbine Lighthouse. On the southern side of the lighthouse is Tieties Bay ( af, Tietiesba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Agulhas
Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans according to the International Hydrographic Organization. Historically, the cape has been known to sailors as a major hazard on the traditional clipper route. It is sometimes regarded as one of the great capes. It was most commonly known in English as Cape L'Agulhas until the 20th century. The town of L'Agulhas is located near to the cape. Geography Cape Agulhas is located in the Overberg region, 170 kilometres (105 mi) southeast of Cape Town. The cape was named by Portuguese navigators, who called it ''Cabo das Agulhas''— Portuguese for "Cape of Needles"—after noticing that around the year 1500 the direction of magnetic north (and therefore the compass needle) coincided with true north in the region. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
