World Heritage Sites South Africa
Fossil Hominid Sites at Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai & Environs. North West Province : The area contains various fossil sites containing traces of human occupation and evolution dating back some 3.3 million years.
Mapumgubwe Cultural Landscape. Limpopo Province. This open savanna lays at the confluence of the Limpopo andShashe rivers. It was the heart of the Mapungubwe Kingdom until the 14th century, when the area was abandoned, leaving untouched remains of palaces and settlements.
Richtersveld Cultural & Botanical Landscape. Northern Province. This mountainous desert is communally owned and managed. It sustains the semi-nomadic pastoral livelihood of the Namaquapeople, including seasonal migrations that have persisted for two millennia.
Robben Island. Western Cape. Between the 17th and 20th century, the island was used as a prison, including for political prisoners, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups (leper colony), and a military base.
Cape Floral Region. Western & Eastern Cape. The site consists of eight protected areas that are among the richest in plant life worldwide, containing nearly 20% of Africa's total flora. Its scientific value is demonstrated by the presence of fire and radiation adaptivity in plants and seed dispersal by insects.
Isimangaliso Wetland Park. Kwazulu Natal. The park features a variety of landforms, including coral reefs, long sandy beaches, coastal dunes, lake systems, swamps, and reed and papyrus wetland, caused by fluvial, marine and aeolianprocesses. This has resulted in an exceptional species diversity.
Vredefort Dome. Free State. The crater, with a diameter of 190 km (120 mi), is the largest, oldest and most deeply eroded astrobleme found on Earth, dating back more than 2 billion years.
Uhkahlamba Drakenberg Park. Kwazulu Natal/LesothoThe park features soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, golden sandstone ramparts, rolling high-altitude grasslands, pristine steep-sided river valleys and rocky gorges.
