Editing Veld (section)

=== Highveld and lowveld ===
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[[File:Lowveld map 1.png|thumb|300 px| A map of [[South Africa#Geography|South Africa]] showing the [[Great Escarpment, Southern Africa|Great Escarpment]] and its relation to the highveld, lowveld and [[Lesotho]] highlands: The portion of the Great Escarpment that is colored red is the [[Drakensberg]]. ]]
[[File:On the road in South Africa 8.jpg|thumb|Highveld at [[Excelsior, Free State|Excelsior]] in the central [[Free State (province)|Free State]]]]
[[File:Elephants on the lowveld (7281426474).jpg|thumb|The [[Mpumalanga]] lowveld, as seen near Muntshe Hill in the [[Kruger National Park|Kruger Park]]]]

==== Highveld ====
{{Main|Highveld}}
Much of the interior of Southern Africa consists of a high plateau, the higher portions {{convert|1500|-|2100|m|ft|abbr=on}} of which are known as the highveld, starting at the [[Drakensberg]] escarpment, {{convert|220|km|miles|abbr=on}} to the east of Johannesburg and sloping gradually downwards to the west and southwest, as well as to the north, through the bushveld towards the [[Limpopo River]].<ref name= "Altas">''Atlas of Southern Africa''. (1984). p. 13. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref>
These higher, cooler areas (generally more than {{convert|1500|m|ft|disp=or|abbr=on}} above sea level) are characterised by flat or gently undulating terrain, vast [[grassland]]s, and a modified tropical or [[subtropical climate]]. To the east, the highveld's border is marked by the [[Great Escarpment, Southern Africa|Great Escarpment]], or the [[Mpumalanga]] Drakensberg. Still, the boundary is often arbitrary and not apparent in the other directions. The [[blesbok]] and [[quagga]] were among the large animals that once roamed on the highveld in great numbers. Nowadays, a sizeable population of [[springbok]] still occurs in some areas,.<ref>Richard Despard Estes, ''The Behavior Guide to African Mammals'', [[University of California Press]], {{ISBN|978-0-520-27297-2}}</ref> Much of the area, though, is devoted to Balls farming and South Africa's largest conurbation ([[Gauteng|Gauteng Province]]).

==== Lowveld ====
The lowlands, below about {{convert|500|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} altitude, along South Africa's northern border with [[Botswana]] and [[Zimbabwe]], where a 180-million-year-old failed [[rift valley]] cuts into [[South Africa#Geography|Southern Africa's central plateau]] and locally obliterates the [[Great Escarpment, Southern Africa|Great Escarpment]],<ref>McCarthy t. & Rubidge B. (2005) ''The Story of Earth & Life''. p. 246-247. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.</ref><ref name= McCarthy>McCarthy, T.S. (2013) The Okavango delta and its place in the geomorphological evolution of southern Africa. ''[[South African Journal of Geology]]'' 116: 1-54.</ref> is known as the lowveld.<ref>''Atlas of Southern Africa''. (1984). pp. 13, 192, 195. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref> The [[Limpopo river|Limpopo]] and [[Save River (Africa)|Save River]]s run from the central African highlands via the lowveld into the [[Indian Ocean]] to the east. The Limpopo lowveld extends southwards, east of the Drakensberg Escarpment through [[Mpumalanga|Mpumalanga Province]] and ultimately into eastern [[Eswatini]]. This southern limb of the lowveld is bounded by South Africa's border with [[Mozambique]] to the east and the northeastern part of Drakensberg to the west.<ref>''Atlas of Southern Africa''. (1984). pp. 13, 182, 192. Reader's Digest Association, Cape Town</ref> This region is generally hotter and less intensely cultivated than the highveld. Until the mid-20th century, the lowveld was still infested by the [[tsetse fly]], which transmits the [[sleeping sickness]] called ''[[nagana]]'' among the [[Zulus]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steverding |first=Dietmar |date=2008 |title=The history of African trypanosomiasis |journal=Parasites & Vectors |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=3 |doi=10.1186/1756-3305-1-3 |issn=1756-3305 |pmc=2270819 |pmid=18275594 |doi-access=free }}</ref>