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Northern Cape Voyage Tips and guide

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    The Northern Cape, in the north-west corner of South Africa, is its largest and least populated province with only a population of 1,303,047 (2021). Distances between towns are enormous due to its sparse population. It is slightly larger than Germany, which has 65 times more people.

    Regions

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    The Northern Cape can be divided into the following regions:

    Northern Cape regions - Color-coded map
      Diamond Fields
    A mining and agricultural district surrounding the city of Kimberley, and its famous "Big Hole"
      Northern Cape Karoo
    The “Place of Thirst” - is a boundless area covered by vast sheep and game farms, where broad plains roll away toward distant koppies and multilayered mountains that seem to touch the indigo sky
      Namakwa
    A land of ancient history, lava mountains that display impossible rock formations, and nature reserves that are full of game and birdlife
      Green Kalahari
    Famous for Augrabies Falls, an awe-inspiring waterfall, and for the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, a desert landscape with migrating herds of animals and unending red dunes
      Kalahari
    Home of the biggest natural fountain in the southern hemisphere

    Cities

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    Northern Cape, close to the Namibian border.
    • 1 Kimberley — famous for its Big Hole, the world's largest hand-dug excavation
    • 2 Upington — a good starting point to the famous Augrabies Falls
    • 3 Kuruman — known for its scenic beauty and the Eye of Kuruman, a deep spring
    • 4 Springbok — visitors are drawn for the area's high floral diversity
    • 5 Colesberg — renowned for producing high-quality racehorses and many stud farms
    • 6 Orania — a last outpost of Apartheid

    Other places

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    National parks

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    A typical Northern Cape scene

    Other nature reserves

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    Understand

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    Although it is the largest of the nine provinces (361,000 km²), it has the smallest population (1.3 million in 2020).

    The Northern Cape was part of the Cape Province from 1910 until 1994 when the old provincial boundaries were redrawn, and the Cape Province was split into the Northern Cape, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape Provinces.

    The Northern Cape is a dry and sparsely populated region, and much of it is semi-desert. Nevertheless, it has a beauty of its own and is a popular destination for South African and international tourists alike.

    Get in

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    By car

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    The Northern Cape Province is served by a number of excellent national roads.

    By plane

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    Upington Airport[dead link] and Kimberley Airport[dead link] have flights to some of the major cities in South Africa, operated by South African Airways.

    Get around

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    Public transport is limited, so your best option is by car. Remember to fuel up whenever you can, as distances between gas stations can be long.

    See

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    Do

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    Stay safe

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    Go next

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    This region travel guide to Northern Cape is an outline and may need more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. If there are Cities and Other destinations listed, they may not all be at usable status or there may not be a valid regional structure and a "Get in" section describing all of the typical ways to get here. Please plunge forward and help it grow!



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