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Mpumalanga, formerly Eastern Transvaal is a province in South Africa. The name means "the place where the sun rises". Mpumalanga lies in the east of South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It occupies 6.5% of the country's land. In the north it borders with Limpopo and in the east is Free State and Gauteng provinces. The capital is Nelspruit.
History
To see pre-1994 history see Transvaal.
Geography
The Drakensberg Escarpment cuts through Mpumalanga. The top half consists mainly of grassland called the Highveld while bottom half is a subtropical Lowveld/Bushveld. In this area is the southern half of the Kruger National Park.
Fauna and flora
- Blyderivierspoort Nature Reserve
- Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park previous known as Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou Transfrontier Park. This international game park brings together some of the best and most established wildlife areas in southern Africa. The park is managed as an integrated unit across an unprecedented three international boundaries which includes the Kruger National Park (South Africa), Limpopo National Park (Mozambique) and Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe).
- Sabi-Sand Game Reserve which is built up of numerious private reserves : Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge, Djuma Game Reserve, Exeter Game Lodge, Idube Game Reserve, Inyati Private Game Reserve, Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve, Lion Sands Private Game Reserve, Londolozi Game Reserve, Mala Mala Game Reserve, Savanna Private Game Reserve and Ulusaba Game Lodge
Law and government
Economy
The climatic contrasts between the drier Highveld region, with its cold winters, and the hot, humid Lowveld allows for a variety of agricultural activities. More than 68% of Mpumalanga is utilised by agriculture. Crops include maize, wheat,sorghum, barley, sunflower seed, soy beans, groundnuts, sugar cane, vegetables, coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, citrus, subtropical and deciduous fruit and Forestry, especially around Sabie in the far north of the province, is extensive.
Natural grazing covers approximately 14% of Mpumalanga. The main products are beef, mutton, wool, poultry, and dairy.
Extensive mining is done and the minerials found include: Gold, Platinum group metals, Silica, Chromite, Vanadiferous Magnetite, Argentiferous Zinc, Antimony, Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Tin, Coal, Andalusite, Chrysotile Asbestos, Kieselguhr, Limestone, Magnesite, Talc, and Shale.
Close to the coal deposits are most of South Africas coal Power Stations. Secunda is the site of one of the country's two petroleum-from-coal.
Demographics
| Population groups | | | Languages Spoken |
| African | 92.4% | | | SiSwati | 30.8% |
| White | 6.5% | | | IsiZulu | 26.4% |
| Asian | 0.2% | | | IsiNdebele | 12.1% |
| Coloured | 0.2% | | | Sepedi | 10.8% |
Major cities and towns
See List of cities and towns in Mpumalanga
External links
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