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"Kalahari" redirects here. For the film, see Kalahari (film). Kalahari is an animated feature film slated for international release in 2009
The Kalahari Desert (shown in maroon) & Kalahari Basin (orange)
The Kalahari Desert (shown in maroon) & Kalahari Basin (orange)
Kalahari in Namibia
Kalahari in Namibia

The Kalahari Desert is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern Kgalagadi Africa extending 900,000 km² (362,500 sq. Kgalagadi means land of the thirst It is located in Southern Africa. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of mi. ), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. The Republic of Botswana (Lefatshe la Botswana is a Landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa on the Atlantic coast The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa It has huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari Desert is the southern part of Africa, and the geography is a portion of desert and a plateau. The Kalahari supports some animals and plants because most of it is not true desert. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. It usually receives 3-7 1/2 inches of rain per year. [1] The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2. The Kalahari Basin (or Kalahari Depression) is a large lowland area covering over 2 5 million km² extending further into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Angola, officially the Republic of Angola (República de Angola Pronounced ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈgɔlɐ Repubilika ya Ngola is a country in south-central The Republic of Zambia (ˈzæmbɪə is a Landlocked country in Southern Africa. See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. The Okavango River is a River in southwest Africa. It is the fourth-longest river system in southern Africa running southeastward for 1600 km (1000 miles A delta is a Landform where the mouth of a River flows into an Ocean, Sea, Estuary, Lake or another river Ancient dry riverbeds—called omuramba—traverse the Central Northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Omuramba (pl omiramba, Herero word - a prehistoric river-bed occurring in the Kalahari Desert of Africa, notably in the North Eastern part Previously havens for wild animals from elephant to giraffe, and for predators such as lion and cheetah, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopard or cheetah can still be found.

Contents

Climate

Derived from the Tswana word Keir, meaning the great thirst, or the tribal word Khalagari, Kgalagadi or Kalagare (meaning "a waterless place"[1]), the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent surface water. Tswana ( Setswana) is a Bantu language written in the Latin Alphabet. Drainage is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans, and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia. Natural salt pans are flat expanses of Ground covered with Salt and other Minerals usually shining white under the Sun. The Makgadikgadi Pan is a large salt pan in Northern Botswana, the largest salt flat complex in the world thumb|300px|right|Blick on the Etoscha pan thumb|300px|right|Ausgetrockneter soil of the Etoscha pan ---> The Etosha pan However, the Kalahari is not a true desert. Parts of the Kalahari receive over 250 mm of erratic rainfall annually and are quite well vegetated; it is only truly arid in the southwest (under 175 mm of rain annually) making the Kalahari a fossil desert. Summer temperatures in the Kalahari range from 20 to 45 °C. (68 to 113°F. )

Game reserves

A meerkat in the Kalahari
A meerkat in the Kalahari
The endangered African Wild Dog in CKGR
The endangered African Wild Dog in CKGR

The Kalahari has a number of game reserves—the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR, the world's second largest protected area), Khutse Game Reserve and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta is a small Mammal and a member of the Mongoose family The African wild dog ( Lycaon pictus) is a carnivorous mammal of the Canidae family found only in Africa, especially in scrub Savanna Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari desert of Botswana. Khutse Game Reserve is a National Park in Botswana. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large Wildlife preserve and conservation area in southern Africa. Animals that live in the region include brown hyenas, lions, meerkats, giraffe, warthogs, jackals and several species of antelope (including the eland, gemsbok, springbok, hartebeest, steenbok, kudu, and duiker), and many species of bird and reptiles. The Hyaenidae is a Mammalian family of order Carnivora. The Hyaenidae family native to both African and Asian continents consists of four The lion ( Panthera leo) is a member of the family Felidae and one of four Big cats in the Genus Panthera. The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta is a small Mammal and a member of the Mongoose family The giraffe ( Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African Even-toed ungulate Mammal, the tallest of all land-living Animal Species The warthog or common warthog ( Phacochoerus africanus, "African Lens-Pig" is a wild member of the pig family that lives in Africa A jackal (from Turkish çakal, via Persian shaghal ultimately from Sanskrit sṛgālaḥ) is a member of any of three Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. The gemsbok or gemsbuck ( Oryx gazella) is a large African Antelope, of the Oryx genus The Hartebeest ( Alcelaphus buselaphus) is a Grassland Antelope found in West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa The Steenbok ( Raphicerus campestris) is a common small Antelope of southern and eastern Africa Kudu is an alternate spelling for kuzu the Japanese word for the plant Kudzu. A duiker (ˈdaɪkɚ is any of about 19 small to medium-sized Antelope Species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Vegetation in the Kalahari consists mainly of grasses and acacias but there are over 400 identified plant species present (including the wild watermelon or Tsamma melon). Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the flowering plants. Acacia is a Genus of Shrubs and Trees belonging to the Subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first Watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus ( Thunb) Matsum & Nakai family Cucurbitaceae) refers to both Fruit and Plant of a vine-like (climber Camel rides across the desert are also offered [1].

Kalahari minerals

There are large sand, coal, copper, nickel and uranium deposits in the region. Sand is a naturally occurring Granular material composed of finely divided rock and Mineral particles Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 Nickel (ˈnɪkəl is a metallic Chemical element with the symbol Ni and Atomic number 28 Uranium (jʊˈreɪniəm is a silvery-gray Metallic Chemical element in the One of the largest diamond mines in the world is located at Orapa in the Makgadikgadi, North-Eastern Kalahari. "Diamond mine" redirects here For the game from PopCap Games also known as Diamond Mine see Bejeweled. Orapa is a town located in east-central Botswana. It is the site of the Orapa diamond mine, one of the largest Diamond mines in the world and Pomfret, on the edge of the desert, has asbestos in the subsoil and a shuttered asbestos mine. Pomfret is a desert town the site of an old Asbestos mine on the edge of the Kalahari desert in northwest South Africa. Asbestos is a group of Minerals with long thin fibrous Crystals The word "asbestos" (῾ἀσβεστος is derived from a Greek adjective [2]

mining

Sand mining

Sand mining is a practice to harvest sand from dunes. Sand mining is a practice that is becoming an ecological problem as the demand for Sand increases in Industry and Construction. In physical Geography, a dune is a Hill of Sand built by Aeolian processes. The huge amount of semi-arid sand available in the Kalahari Desert is used to satisfy increasing demands of industry and construction. For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In the fields of Architecture and Civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the Building or assembling of Infrastructure The Kalahari Desert sand is dried and transported via the Trans-Kalahari Highway to industrial areas and is used in, for example, manufacturing as an abrasive - to make concrete. The Trans-Kalahari Highway is a paved road that travels from Gaborone to Ghanzi in Botswana. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag Sand mining plays an increasing factor in Botswana's economy and is a direct and obvious cause of erosion. Sand mining is a practice that is becoming an ecological problem as the demand for Sand increases in Industry and Construction. The Republic of Botswana (Lefatshe la Botswana is a Landlocked nation in Southern Africa. It also impacts the local wildlife, including meerkats, antelopes and the endangered African Wild Dog. The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta is a small Mammal and a member of the Mongoose family Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. The African wild dog ( Lycaon pictus) is a carnivorous mammal of the Canidae family found only in Africa, especially in scrub Savanna

Population

The San people or Bushmen have lived in the Kalahari for 20,000 years as hunter-gatherers. The Bushmen, San, Sho, Basarwa, ǃKung or Khwe are indigenous people of southern Africa that spans most areas of South Africa That means they survive by hunting wild game with bows and arrows and gathering edible plants like berries, melons and nuts as well as insects. Bushmen rarely drink water; they get most of water requirements from plant roots and desert melons found on or under the desert floor: they often store water in the blown-out shells of ostrich eggs. The San have their own characteristic language that includes clicking sounds. These Bushmen live in huts built from local materials - the frame is made of branches and the roof is thatched with long grass. The Bantu-speaking Tswana, Kgalagadi, and Herero, and a small number of European settlers also live in the Kalahari.

Settlements within the Kalahari

Bostwana

Namibia

South Africa

The Kalahari desert in popular culture

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Mary Sadler-Altena, "Kalahari: Introduction" webpage: SouthernCape-Kalahari: Kalahari name/climate/reserves and history. Wilbur Addison Smith (born January 9 1933 in Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) is a best-selling Novelist. De Beers and the various companies within the De Beers Family of Companies engage in exploration for diamonds, diamond mining diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacture Morokweng crater (or Morokweng impact structure) is a large Meteorite crater buried beneath the Kalahari Desert near the town of Morokweng This is a list of Deserts in the world ordered by area. It includes all deserts with an area greater than 50 000 km² (19 300 square miles Meerkat Manor is a British Television programme produced by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet International.
  2. ^ South Africa - Pomfret. abc. net. Retrieved on 2007-01-03. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.

External links

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