Map of the two Karoo ecoregions as delineated by the WWF. Satellite image from NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program The yellow line encloses the two ecoregions. The green line separates the Succulent Karoo, to the west, from the Nama Karoo, to the east. The Succulent Karoo is a desert ecoregion of South Africa and Namibia. National boundaries are shown in black. Note that the ecoregions given the name "Karoo" do not coincide exactly with the geographical boundaries of what is traditionally recognized as The Karoo sensu stricto. For example, nobody in southern Africa would hold that 'The Karoo' proper extends into Namibia.

The Karoo (a Khoisan word of uncertain etymology ^[1]) is a semi-desert region of South Africa. The Karoo Ice Age from 300–400 Ma (million years ago was the second major period of Glaciation of the Phanerozoic Eon. Khoisan (increasingly commonly spelled Khoesan or Khoe-San) is the name for two major Ethnic groups of Southern Africa. A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. 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 two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.

Great Karoo- Extent and History

The Great Karoo has an area of more than 400,000 square kilometers. From a geogical point of view it has been a vast inland basin for most of the past 250 million years. At one stage the area was glaciated and the evidence for this is found in the widely-distributed Dwyka tillite. Later, at various times, there were great inland deltas, seas, lakes or swamps. Enormous deposits of coal formed and these are one of the pillars of the economy of South Africa today. Volcanic activity took place on a titanic scale. Despite this baptism of fire, ancient reptiles and amphibians prospered in the wet forests and their remains have made the Karoo famous amongst palaeontologists. 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 Prehistoric amphibian Amphibians (class Amphibia such as Frogs Toads Salamanders Newts Gymnophiona, Sirens and

Western people first settled in the Cape in 1652 but made almost no inroads into the Karoo prior to about 1800. Before that time, large herds of antelope, zebra and other large game roamed the grassy flats of the region. Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. Zebras are African Equids best known for their distinctive white and black stripes The Khoi and Bushmen, last of the southern African Stone Age peoples, wandered far and wide. The Bushmen, San, Sho, Basarwa, ǃKung or Khwe are indigenous people of southern Africa that spans most areas of South Africa The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric time period during which Humans widely used stone for toolmaking There were no Europeans and no Africans of Bantu extraction. (The area was never wet enough for cattle and this is probably the main reason why it was never occupied by the Bantu). The two ethnic groups mentioned above differed substantially in their cultures and lifestyles; the Hottentots were described as graziers of sheep and cattle, while the Bushmen were hunter-gatherers. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family A hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild Foraging and Hunting (These were the original names given to these tribes by the Dutch. The terms may not be regarded as politically correct today). With the occupation of the region by European settlers, sheep gradually replaced the game and the cover of grass degenerated, owing to changes in the pattern of grazing and in the climate.

Starting in the middle years of the 19th century, a railway track was extended into the Karoo from Worcester in the south. This eventually extended its tendrils to Bechuanaland, South West Africa, Johannesburg, Rhodesia and far beyond. The impact of this railroad on the history of southern Africa is difficult to exaggerate.

During the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, three Republican Commandos, reinforced by the rebels from the Cape Colony, conducted widespread operations throughout the Karoo. See also First Boer War,, South African Wars (1879-1915 The Second Boer War ( Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: Year 1899 ( MDCCCXCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652 with the founding of Cape Town. Countless skirmishes took place in the region, with the Calvinia magisterial district, in particular, contributing a significant number of fighters to the Republican cause. Fought both conventionally and as a guerrilla struggle over the Karoo's vast expanses, it was a bloody war of attrition wherein both sides used newly developed technologies to their advantage. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Numerous abandoned blockhouses can still be seen at strategic locations throughout the Great Karoo; a prime example is located next to the Geelbeks River, 12 kilometres outside the town of Laingsburg. In Military science, a blockhouse is a small isolated Fort in the form of a single building Laingsburg is a town located in the Western Cape province in South Africa.

Currently sheep farming is still the economic backbone of the Karoo, with other forms of agriculture established in areas where irrigation is possible. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops Lately game farms and tourism have also started to make an economic impact. A game reserve is an area of land set aside for maintenance of wildlife for tourism or Hunting purposes Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

Karoo in spring near Laingsburg	Karoo in spring near Laingsburg	Karoo in spring near Laingsburg	Karoo in spring near Laingsburg
Karoo in spring near Laingsburg	Karoo in spring near Willowmore	Karoo in spring near Willowmore	A Karoo landscape
An abandoned car in the Karoo	Karoo snow above Hex River Pass on the N1 highway

Little Karoo

As the name implies, the Little Karoo is the smaller (and more southerly) of the two Karoo sub-regions. Locally it is usually called the Klein Karoo, which is Afrikaans for Little Karoo. Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in Geographically it is a fertile valley (bounded on the north by the Swartberg, and on the south by the Langeberg and Outeniqua mountains). The Swartberg mountains ( black mountain in Afrikaans) make up a Mountain range that runs roughly east-west along the northern edge of the semi-arid The Langeberg Mountain Range is a Mountain range named after Cpl Although the boundaries of the region are not strictly defined, most people consider the western limit of the Little Karoo to be in the region of Barrydale and the eastern extremity around Uniondale.

The main town of the region is Oudtshoorn. Other towns/settlements in the region include Ladismith, Calitzdorp, De Rust,and well-known mission stations such as Zoar, Amalienstein, Barrydale and Dysselsdorp. Calitzdorp is a town on the Western side of the Little or Klein Karoo in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and lies at Latitude 33° 32' 14 De Rust is a small village at the gateway to the Little Karoo. Barrydale is a village located on the border of the Overberg and Klein Karoo regions of the Western Cape Province in South Africa.

This area was first explored by European settlers in the late 17th century, who encountered only Khoisan people living in this rather dry area. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Khoisan (increasingly commonly spelled Khoesan or Khoe-San) is the name for two major Ethnic groups of Southern Africa. Modern farming methods have brought productivity and wealth to this district.

See also

• Karoo National Park
• Karoo Supergroup
• Karoo District Municipality
• Central Karoo District Municipality
• Karoo Ice Age

References

External links

• http://www.karooinfo.com
• http://www.karoospace.co.za