Northern Cape

The Northern Cape province is the largest in area of all the South African provinces, but due to its extremely dry climate, has less than 2% of the country's population.

The Northern Cape's Augrabies Falls, the world's six largest waterfall at 200m/656ft deep, are fittingly named from the Khoi word which means 'place of great noise'. The Augrabies Falls National Park and the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park are among the best known of the Northern Cape's reserves.

The discovery of the 83-carat 'Star of South Africa' diamond marked the beginning of the world's greatest diamond rush and in Kimberley, the Northern Cape's capital, is the 'Big Hole', the largest hand-dug excavation in the world. Other attractions include ancient cave and rock paintings, late Stone Age artifacts and reminders of the Anglo-Boer conflict.

The Northern Cape's main sources of income are agriculture and mining. The regional language is Afrikaans.