GEOGRAPHY TERM 2 Flashcards
Name the 3 main physical areas in South Africa
The coastal plain
The escarpment
The plateau
What is the coastal plain
It is an area near the coast.
It is a flat area of land
It is not high above sea level
It is a large area
What is the escarpment
It is steep slopes
It divides the coastal plain from the plateau
There are high mountains along or near the escarpment
What is the plateau
It is a large flat area with steep sides
it is the largest part of SA
It is 1000-2000 meters above sea level
Name the 6 smaller physical areas in SA
Highveld Lowveld Kalahari Great Karoo Little Karoo Namaqualand
What makes physical areas different
Height
Size
Rain
What are mountains
It is high areas of land with steep sides
What is a mountain range
Area with many mountains
What are hills
Smaller mountains with gentle slopes
What are valleys
Low areas between mountains and hills
What are rivers
Channels of fresh water that flow downhill. They start at high places and flow into the the sea and lakes
What are waterfalls
Rivers that flows over a piece of land
What is a coastline
A narrow strip of land next to the sea.
How long are SA’s coastlines
+-3000 km long
What is a cape
A piece of land that sticks into the sea like cape point
What is a bay
An area of sea partly surrounded by land like false bay
How do places get their names
They get their names for different reasons from shape, colour, plants etc
Where does uKhalamba-Drakensberg get its name from
From 2 languages
Zulu meaning sharp edge
Afrikaans meaning dragon mountains
Why is the Mthatha river named that
Because of the large numbers of Thatha trees that grow next to the river bank’s
Where does Robben Island get its name
Robben comes from the dutch word seal because there were lots of seals on Robben Island when the Dutch arrived.
What is a source
Where a river starts
What is a mouth
Where the river flows into the sea
What is a tributary
A small river that flows into a bigger river
What is a river system
Main river and all its tributories
What is a catchment area
An area covered by one main river and all its tributaries. There is only 1 river system in a catchment area
Name the main rivers in South Africa
Limpopo Olifants Thuleka mzimvubu Great Fish Gamtoos Berg Vaal Gariep-Orange
What does everyone need
Water
What are most cities near to
Rivers
Name the cities and their rivers
New Orleans - Mississippi River Frankfurt - Rhine River Cairo - Nile River Manaus - Amazon River Islamabad - Indus river Xi'an - Huang He River Canberra - Murray river Kinshasa - Congo River
Where do people in SA live
In flat areas and valleys between mountains and coastal plains and in areas o the plateau
Why do few people live in high mountain areas
Land is to steep
Weather is cold
Soil is not good for farming
Difficult to build roads
Why do more people live in flat areas or valleys
Land is flatter for farming
Weather is warmer
There are bigger rivers
There are more space to build settlements and roads
Why do people live an work in the coastal plain
It is close to the sea for fishing There are harbours for ships Land is flat for building things Soil is good for farming There are big rivers for water and transport
How do people change the land
Farmers cut down trees and make fields
People dig into the land to make mines and quarries
Build towns and cities that cover land with buildings
Roads and railways change the land
People build dams and rivers
How do people make dams
They build walls across rivers
The river water spreads out behind the wall to make a man-made lake
Why do dams change the land
They cover large areas of farmland
The change the flow of rivers
They may increase floods
Why do we build roads
To make transport easier
All roads change the land
What types of roads are there
Sand road
Big motorways
What is a mine
Areas where people dig out rocks fro the ground
What is a quarry
An open kind of mine
