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Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabi ...

's south coast between the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula () of South Africa is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good ...

and the region known as the Garden Route in the east. The boundaries of the Overberg are the Hottentots-Holland mountains in the West; the Riviersonderend Mountains, part of the

Cape Fold Belt The Cape Fold Belt (CFB) is a long fold-and-thrust mountain belt along the western and southern coastlines of Western Cape, South Africa. The Cape Fold Belt formed during the Permian period (300 to 250million years ago) in the late Paleozoic ...

, in the North; the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and Indian Oceans in the South and the Breede River in the East. The area has always been considered as the breadbasket of the Cape and is largely given to grain farming — mainly wheat. The wheat fields are a major breeding ground for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

's national bird, the

blue crane The blue crane (''Grus paradisea''), also known as the Stanley crane and the paradise crane, is the national bird of South Africa. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Description The blue crane is a tall, ground-dwelling bird, ...

. Another important crop in the Overberg is fruit, with the Elgin Valley producing about 60 percent of the total annual apple crop of about 819 000 tonnes (2012 data). Nestled in the Overberg, one can find the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve (recognised and registered with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

) populated with a large diversity of flowering plants not found anywhere else in the

fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

. The major towns are

Hermanus Hermanus (; originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

, Caledon,

Bredasdorp Bredasdorp is a town in the Southern Overberg region of the Western Cape, South Africa, and the main economic and service hub of that region. It lies on the northern edge of the Agulhas Plain, about south-east of Cape Town and north of Cape Agu ...

Grabouw Grabouw ( , ) is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 (South Africa), N2 highway. The town is the commercia ...

and

Swellendam Swellendam () is the third oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them buildings of Cape D ...

and the region includes

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; , "Cape of Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans according to the In ...

, the southernmost point of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The landscape is dominated by gently to moderately undulating hills enclosed by mountains and the ocean. The name, derived from ''Over 't Berg'', means "over the ( Hottentots-Holland) mountain" and is a reference to the region's location relative to

Overberg gallery

Image:Overberg-1.JPG, Image:Overberg-4.JPG, Image:Overberg-5.JPG, Image:Overberg-7.JPG,

Notes

External links

Community Website of the Overberg Region

Maps

Google Earth view of the Overberg Region

Map of Overberg region
{{coord, 34.63321, S, 19.89212, E, type:landmark_source:enwiki, display=title Geography of the Western Cape de:Overberg (Distrikt)

Overberg gallery

See also

Notes

External links

Maps