The
Highveld is a high
plateauIn geology and earth science, a plateau, also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain...
region of
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 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 country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
which is largely home to the largest metropolitan area in the country, the Gauteng City Region, which accounts for one-third of South Africa's population. The Highveld constitutes parts of the
MpumalangaMpumalanga, , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...
,
Northern CapeThe Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated of the provinces of South Africa, created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, which is part of a trans-frontier park with Botswana...
,
North WestNorth West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...
, and
LimpopoLimpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. The capital is Pietersburg, now renamed to Polokwane. The province was formed from the northern region of the Transvaal province in 1994, and initially named Northern Transvaal...
provinces, and virtually all of
GautengGauteng is a province of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
and the northern
Free StateThe Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans were abolished and included into the...
. The Highveld is bordered by the
BushveldThe Bushveld is a sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa that encompasses most of Limpopo Province and part of the North West Province of South Africa and extends into western Botswana and southern Zimbabwe.- Geography :...
and the Lowveld in the north, northeast, and northwest, the
DrakensbergThe Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba , and in Sesotho as Maluti . Its geological history lends it a distinctive character amongst the mountain ranges of the world...
mountains to the east and southeast, the Kalahari desert in the west, and the Great Karoo to the southwest.
The
Highveld is a high
plateauIn geology and earth science, a plateau, also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain...
region of
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 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 country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
which is largely home to the largest metropolitan area in the country, the Gauteng City Region, which accounts for one-third of South Africa's population. The Highveld constitutes parts of the
MpumalangaMpumalanga, , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...
,
Northern CapeThe Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated of the provinces of South Africa, created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, which is part of a trans-frontier park with Botswana...
,
North WestNorth West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...
, and
LimpopoLimpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. The capital is Pietersburg, now renamed to Polokwane. The province was formed from the northern region of the Transvaal province in 1994, and initially named Northern Transvaal...
provinces, and virtually all of
GautengGauteng is a province of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
and the northern
Free StateThe Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans were abolished and included into the...
. The Highveld is bordered by the
BushveldThe Bushveld is a sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa that encompasses most of Limpopo Province and part of the North West Province of South Africa and extends into western Botswana and southern Zimbabwe.- Geography :...
and the Lowveld in the north, northeast, and northwest, the
DrakensbergThe Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba , and in Sesotho as Maluti . Its geological history lends it a distinctive character amongst the mountain ranges of the world...
mountains to the east and southeast, the Kalahari desert in the west, and the Great Karoo to the southwest. The Highveld covers an area of almost 400,000 km², or roughly thirty percent of South Africa's land area.
Cities located on the Highveld include
JohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi or Jo'burg, is the largest city in South Africa. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
,
PretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
,
BloemfonteinBloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa as well as one of the nation's three capitals, the judicial capital. The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs" and became part of the Mangaung Local Municipality in 2000...
, Vereeniging,
WelkomWelkom is a city in the Free State province of South Africa, with a population in 2001 of 408,173. It is 160 kilometres northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital....
, Carletonville, and the cities of the West Rand and East Rand. The diamond-mining city of
KimberleyKimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
lies on the border of the Highveld and the southeastern Kalahari.
Approximately half the
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
ever produced in the world has been mined on the Highveld since 1880. The largest deposits are located in the
WitwatersrandThe Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700-1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations are...
, which centres on Johannesburg, with smaller deposits in the northern Free State near Welkom and Virginia. The Highveld is also exceedingly rich in
vanadiumVanadium is the chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a soft, silvery grey, ductile transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. Andrés Manuel del Río discovered vanadium in 1801 by analyzing the mineral vanadinite, and named it...
, diamonds,
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, and
manganeseManganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
.
AgricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
in the Highveld is generally dominated by extensive
grainGRAIN is an international non-governmental organization based in Barcelona, Spain, which works toward sustainable agriculture. It was formed upon the realization that the genetic diversity of the world's food crops are being drastically eliminated...
production and the grazing of
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
cattle, with more intensive production of
maizeMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
,
wheatWheat is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
,
sorghumSorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
, citrus fruits, groundnuts, sunflowers, and vegetables, occurring in irrigated areas and farmland closer to urban areas.
Naturally occurring vegetation in the Highveld consists of subtropical and temperate
grasslandGrasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, with true
savannahSavannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-Software:* GNU Savannah, an aggregation of software development projects affiliated with the GNU project-Places in the USA:...
not dominating the ecosystem until more tropical latitudes. The Highveld rainy season occurs in summer, with substantial afternoon thunderstorms being typical occurrences in November, December, and January.