Southern Africa

The southern portion of Africa is made up of the five nations of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland (which constitute the Southern African Customs Union) and Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia). Over 70% of the 65 million people living within the region reside in South Africa. Rich deposits of metals and minerals are indigenous here; much of the world’s supply of platinum, diamonds, silver, lead and zinc come from these nations.

Outside of the developed areas the landscape varies. Namibia and Botswana both have large deserts, with the latter’s dominating over 70% of the country’s total area. The tiny nation of Lesotho, nestled within the heart of South Africa, is more moderate due to its higher elevation. South Africa, Zambia and Swaziland both have abundant rainforests and savannahs. Because of this variety of environment many different species live in the region including bushveld animals such as the lion, leopard, giraffe, hippopotamus, hyena and White Rhino. Tourism remains a strong resource and several campaigns to increase the population of wild animals have met with success.

Colonialism in the 19th century produced a century of racial segregation between native Africans and European whites. Great strides have been taken in giving back the independence to the native Africans such as Namibia’s independence and the end of South African apartheid in 1990 but many problems remain. Crime, high unemployment, a tide of refugees from war-torn Central African nations and the AIDS crisis have rocked these countries and will pose continued challenges for the foreseeable future.