The Kalahari Desert (Dorsland in Afrikaans Elsewhere in Africa, notably Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland)[1][2][3] is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English extending 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" (singular: Motswana). Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It has held free and fair democratic elections and parts of Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990 following the Namibian War of and South Africa Coordinates: 29°02′46″S 25°03′47″E / 29.046°S 25.063°E The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 kilometres coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent, as semi-desert, with 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 a true desert. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. It usually receives 3–7.5 inches (76–190 mm) of rain per year.[4] The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi) extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city. The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the Congo and the, Zambia The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of the and Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three official languages: English, Shona (a Bantu language), and Ndebele (also a. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river. Over long periods of time, this deposition builds the in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds—called omuramba—traverse the Central Northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. 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 Tswana , is a Bantu language written in the Latin alphabet. English is the national and majority language of Botswana, whose people are the Batswana (singular Motswana). Although English is the official language of Botswana, the majority of speakers also understand Setswana. There are also speakers in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa word Kgala, meaning "the great thirst", or Khalagari, Kgalagadi or Kalagare, meaning "a waterless place"[4], the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red sand without any permanent surface water. Drainage is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans, and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan The Etosha pan is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Namib Desert in the north of Namibia. The 120-kilometre-long dry lakebed and its surroundings are protected as Etosha National Park, one of Namibia's largest wildlife parks. The pan is mostly dry but after a heavy rain it will acquire a thin layer of water, which is heavily salted in Namibia. However, the Kalahari is not a true desert. Parts of the Kalahari receive over 250 millimetres (9.8 in) of erratic rainfall annually and are quite well vegetated; it is only truly arid in the southwest with under 175 millimetres (6.9 in) of rain annually, making the Kalahari a fossil desert. Summer temperatures in the Kalahari range from 20 to 45°C (68–113°F).

The Kalahari Desert was once a much wetter place. The ancient Lake Makgadikgadi dominated the area, covering the Makgadikgadi Pan and other areas, until its final drainage some 10,000 years ago. It may have once covered as much as 275,000 square kilometres (106,000 sq mi) and was approximately 30 metres (98 ft) deep.

Ecology

Despite its aridity, the Kalahari supports a variety of fauna and flora. The native flora includes acacia Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian Acacias are not. They are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves typically bearing large amounts of trees and many other herbs and grasses.[5] The Kiwano fruit, also known as the Horned Melon, melano, African horned cucumber, jelly melon, hedged gourd, and/or English tomato, is endemic Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, habitat type, nation or other defined zone. To be endemic to a place or area means that it is found only in that part of the world and nowhere else to a region in the Kalahari Desert (*specific region unknown).[6]

Some of the areas within the Kalahari are seasonal wetlands A wetland is an area of land which soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, and bogs, among others. The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater, or brackish. The world's largest wetland is the, such as the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" (singular: Motswana). Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It has held free and fair democratic elections. This area, for example, supports numerous halophilic Halophiles are extremophile organisms that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of salt. The name comes from the Greek for "salt-loving". While the term is perhaps most often applied to some halophiles classified into the Archaea domain, there are also bacterial halophiles and some eukaryota, such as the alga Dunaliella species, and in the rainy season, tens of thousands of flamingos Flamingos or flamingoes ( pronunciation ) are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus, the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae. There are four flamingo species in the Americas and two species in the Old World visit these pans.[7]

Game reserves

A meerkat The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta, a small mammal, is a member of the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or in the Kalahari The endangered African Wild Dog The African Wild Dog is a medium sized canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and other lightly wooded areas. It is also called the Painted Hunting Dog, African Hunting Dog, the Cape Hunting Dog, the Spotted Dog, or the Painted Wolf in English, Wildehond in Afrikaans, and Mbwa mwitu in Swahili. It is the only species in the genus 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 Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area in southern Africa. The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks: Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa and Gemsbok National Park in Botswana. The total area of the park is 38,000 square kilometres. Animals that live in the region include brown hyenas The Hyaenidae is a mammalian family of order Carnivora. The Hyaenidae family, native to both African and Asian continents, consists of four living species, the Striped Hyena and Brown Hyena (genus Hyaena), the Spotted Hyena (genus Crocuta), and the Aardwolf (genus Proteles), lions The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with a critically endangered remnant population in Gir Forest National Park in India,, meerkats The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta, a small mammal, is a member of the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or, giraffes The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. The giraffe's scientific name, which is similar to its antiquated English name of camelopard, refers to its irregular patches of color on a light background, which bear a token resemblance to a leopard's spots. The average, warthogs The Warthog or Common Warthog is a wild member of the pig family that lives in Africa, jackals A jackal is a member of any of three small to medium-sized species of the genus Canis, found in Africa, Asia, and southeastern Europe. Jackals fill a similar ecological niche to the coyote in North America; both are omnivorous predators of small to medium-sized animals, as well as scavengers. Their long legs and curved canine teeth are adapted for, several species of antelope Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species found all over the world in places such as Africa, Asia and North America. The term refers to a ‘miscellaneous’ group within the family encompassing the old-world species which are not cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison,or goats. A group of antelope is called a herd (including the eland, gemsbok The gemsbok or gemsbuck is a large African antelope, of the Oryx genus. The name is derived from the Dutch name of the male chamois, gemsbok. Although there are some superficial similarities in appearance (especially in the colour of the face area), the chamois and the oryx are not closely related, springbok The Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a medium sized brown and white gazelle that stands about 80 cm high. Springbok males weigh between 33–56 kg and the females between to 25–42 kg. They can reach running speeds of up to 75 to 88 km/h (47 to 55 mph) , jumps and can leap 3.50 m and can long jump of up to 15 m, hartebeest The hartebeest is a grassland antelope found in West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. It is one of the three species classified in the genus Alcelaphus, steenbok Steenbok resemble small Oribi, standing 45–60 cm at the shoulder. Their pelage is any shade from fawn to rufous, typically rather orange. The underside, including chin and throat, is white, as is the ring around the eye. Ears are large with "finger-marks" on the inside. Males carry straight, smooth, parallel horns 7–19 cm long (see, kudu Lesser Kudus come from the savannas near acacia and commiphora shrubs. They have to rely on thickets for protection, so they are hardly ever seen in the open. Their drab brown and striped pelts help them disappear in scrub environments, and duiker A duiker is any of about 19 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa), and many species of birds Birds are winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most varied of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) Ostrich and reptiles Reptiles are animals in the class Reptilia characterized by breathing air, a "cold-blooded" (poikilothermic) metabolism, laying tough-shelled amniotic eggs (or retaining the same membrane system in species with live birth), and skin with scales or scutes. They are tetrapods (either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed. Vegetation in the Kalahari consists mainly of grasses Poaceae is a family in the Class Liliopsida (the monocots) of the flowering plants. Plants of this family are usually called grasses, or, to distinguish them from other graminoids, true grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo (there are also herbaceous, non-woody bamboos). There are about 600 genera and some 9,000 and acacias Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian Acacias are not. They are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves typically bearing large amounts of, but there are over 400 identified plant species present (including the wild watermelon Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Matsum & Nakai, family Cucurbitaceae) can be both the fruit and the plant of a vine-like (scrambler and trailer) plant originally from southern Africa, and is one of the most common types of melon. This flowering plant produces a special type of fruit known by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind (, or Tsamma melon). Camel rides flourish when it rains.

Population

The Bushmen have lived in the Kalahari for 20,000 years as hunter-gatherers 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 without significant recourse to the domestication of either. Hunter-gatherers obtain most from gathering rather than hunting; up to 80% of the food is obtained by gathering. The.[8] They hunt wild game with bows and arrows and gather edible plants, such as berries, melons and nuts, as well as insects. Bushmen rarely drink water; they get most of their 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 languages are notable for a number of distinctive features, including click consonants. These Bushmen The indigenous people of southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Basarwa, Kung, or Khwe. These people were traditionally hunter-gatherers, part of the Khoisan group and are related to the traditionally live in huts built from local materials—the frame is made of branches, and the roof is thatched with long grass. The Bantu The Bantu languages constitute a sub-branch of the Niger-Congo languages. By one estimate, there are 522 languages in the Bantu family, 668 languages in the Southern Bantoid branch which includes Bantu, and 1,532 in Niger-Congo. Bantu languages are spoken largely east and south of the present day country of Cameroon; i.e., in the regions commonly-speaking Tswana, Kgalagadi, and Herero and a small number of European settlers also live in the Kalahari.

Settlements within the Kalahari

Botswana

Namibia

South Africa

The Kalahari desert in popular culture

References

  1. ^ Dorsland Trek, Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 13 Oct. 2009
  2. ^ The Dorsland Trekkers, Tourbrief.com - The Dorsland Trekkers
  3. ^ Dorsland trekkers, klausdierks.com - CHRONOLOGY OF NAMIBIAN HISTORY. 02 January 2005
  4. ^ a b Mary Sadler-Altena, "Kalahari: Introduction" webpage: SouthernCape-Kalahari: Kalahari name/climate/reserves and history.
  5. ^ Martin Leipold, Plants of the Kalahari
  6. ^ WikiHow, ' Kiwano Fruit
  7. ^ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Makgadikgadi, Megalithic Portal, ed. A.Burnham
  8. ^ Marshall, Leon (April 16, 2003), "Bushmen Driven From Ancestral Lands in Botswana", National Geographic News (Johannesburg), http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0416_030416_san2_2.html, retrieved 2009-04-22

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