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Africa topographic map
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Africa
Africa's topography is a complex tapestry of plateaus, mountains, valleys, and deserts. The continent is dominated by vast plateaus, with elevations averaging around 1,000 meters (3,281 feet), especially prominent in the south and east. The Ethiopian Highlands, often referred to as the "Roof of Africa," rise to formidable heights, with peaks such as Ras Dejen reaching 4,550 meters (14,928 feet). The Great Rift Valley, a significant geological feature, stretches from the Red Sea down to Mozambique, creating deep depressions hosting some of Africa's largest lakes, including Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi, and marked by volcanic mountains such as Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest point at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) and Mount Kenya. In the northwest, the Atlas Mountains extend through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, with Mount Toubkal standing as the range's highest point at 4,167 meters (13,671 feet). Contrasting these elevations, the Sahara Desert sprawls across North Africa, characterized by expansive sand dunes and rocky plateaus. The southern part of Africa includes the Kalahari Desert and the Drakensberg Mountains, which rise steeply from the plains. This diverse terrain influences the continent's climate, biodiversity, and human settlements.
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About this map
Name: Africa topographic map, elevation, terrain.
Location: Africa (-13.49757 -7.24219 36.50243 42.75781)
Average elevation: 462 m
Minimum elevation: -415 m
Maximum elevation: 4,436 m
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Other topographic maps
Click on a map to view its topography, its elevation and its terrain.
South Africa
South Africa's topography is characterized by a high central plateau, known as the Highveld, which lies at elevations between 1,200 and 1,800 meters (3,937 to 5,906 feet) above sea level. This plateau is encircled by the Great Escarpment, a prominent mountainous feature that includes the Drakensberg Mountains,…
Average elevation: 221 m
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KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal has a varied yet verdant climate thanks to diverse, complex topography. Generally, the coast is subtropical with inland regions becoming progressively colder. Durban on the south coast has an annual rainfall of 1009 mm, with daytime maxima peaking from January to March at 28 °C (82 °F) with a…
Average elevation: 777 m
Buffalo River
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
The Buffalo River has its source in the seeps and sponges of the Amatola Mountains at an altitude of 1200 m. The river is 126 kilometres long and drains a catchment of 1287 square kilometres. From its source, the river descends through indigenous forest in a deeply incised channel, flanked by rock cliffs up to…
Average elevation: 395 m
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Wilge River
South Africa > Free State > Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality
Average elevation: 1,618 m
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Buffalo River
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality > East London
Average elevation: 120 m
Nzhelele
South Africa > Limpopo > Vhembe District Municipality > Makhado Local Municipality
Average elevation: 675 m
Kruin Park
South Africa > Gauteng > City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality > Pretoria
Average elevation: 1,380 m
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KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal has a varied yet verdant climate thanks to diverse, complex topography. Generally, the coast is subtropical with inland regions becoming progressively colder. Durban on the south coast has an annual rainfall of 1009 mm, with daytime maxima peaking from January to March at 28 °C (82 °F) with a…
Average elevation: 950 m
Umgeni River
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality
Average elevation: 342 m
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Gauteng
Gauteng's southern border is the Vaal River, which separates it from the Free State. It also borders on North West to the west, Limpopo to the north, and Mpumalanga to the east. Gauteng is the only landlocked province of South Africa without a foreign border. Most of Gauteng is on the Highveld, a high-altitude…
Average elevation: 1,405 m
Mpumalanga
The Drakensberg escarpment divides Mpumalanga into a westerly half consisting mainly of high-altitude grassland called the Highveld and an eastern half situated in low-altitude subtropical Lowveld/Bushveld, mostly savanna habitat. The southern half of the Kruger National Park is in the latter region. The…
Average elevation: 1,127 m
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Apies River
South Africa > Gauteng > City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
Average elevation: 1,224 m
Umfolozi River
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > King Cetswayo District Municipality
Average elevation: 75 m
Stellenbosch
South Africa > Western Cape > Cape Winelands District Municipality > Stellenbosch Local Municipality
Stellenbosch is 53 km (33 mi) east of Cape Town via National Route N1. Stellenbosch is in a hilly region of the Cape Winelands, and is sheltered in a valley at an average elevation of 136 m (446 ft), flanked on the west by Papegaaiberg (Afrikaans: Parrot Mountain), which is actually a hill. To the south is…
Average elevation: 287 m
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Western Cape
The province is topographically exceptionally diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a set of nearly parallel ranges of sandstone folded mountains of Cambrian-Ordovician age (the age of the rocks is from 510 to about 330 million years ago; their folding into mountains occurred about 350…
Average elevation: 90 m
Komati River
The river originates west of Carolina, rising at an elevation of about 1,800 m (5,906 ft) near Breyten in the Ermelo district of the Mpumalanga province. It flows in a general northeasterly direction and reaches the Indian Ocean at Maputo Bay, after a course of some 800 km (497 mi).
Average elevation: 477 m
Hartbeespoort Dam
South Africa > North West > Bojanala Platinum District Municipality > Madibeng Local Municipality > Kosmos
Average elevation: 1,254 m
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Vaal Dam
South Africa > Free State > Fezile Dabi District Municipality > Metsimaholo Local Municipality > Deneysville
Average elevation: 1,481 m
Roodepoort
South Africa > Gauteng > City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
Average elevation: 1,593 m
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Table Mountain
South Africa > Western Cape > City of Cape Town > Cape Town
Table Mountain is at the northern end of a sandstone mountain range that forms the spine of the Cape Peninsula that terminates approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) to the south at the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Immediately to the south of Table Mountain is a rugged "plateau" at a somewhat lower elevation…
Average elevation: 583 m
Jukskei River
South Africa > Gauteng > City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
Average elevation: 1,528 m
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Free State
The Free State is situated on a succession of flat grassy plains sprinkled with pastureland, resting on a general elevation of 3,800 feet only broken by the occasional hill or kopje. The rich soil and pleasant climate allow for a thriving agricultural industry. With more than 30,000 farms, which produce over…
Average elevation: 1,499 m
Okhahlamba Local Municipality
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > Uthukela District Municipality
Average elevation: 1,584 m
iSimangaliso Wetland Park
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > Umkhanyakude District Municipality
Average elevation: 193 m
Maropeng Cradle of Humankind
South Africa > Gauteng > West Rand District Municipality > Mogale City Local Municipality
Average elevation: 1,617 m
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Blue Lagoon
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality > Durban
Average elevation: 16 m
Umgeni River
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality > Queensburgh
Average elevation: 149 m
Ventersdorp Local Municipality
South Africa > North West > Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality
Average elevation: 1,488 m
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Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve
The reserve includes a variety of landscapes including slopes, cliffs, crests, kloofs, rivers, wetlands and valleys. Although the area covers a diverse geological area, it consists mainly of the Magaliesberg mountain complex comprising two geological formations: the Transvaal System and the Bushveld Igneous…
Average elevation: 1,370 m
Swartland Local Municipality
South Africa > Western Cape > West Coast District Municipality
Average elevation: 115 m
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Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality
South Africa > Limpopo > Sekhukhune District Municipality
Average elevation: 1,256 m
Makhado Local Municipality
South Africa > Limpopo > Vhembe District Municipality
Average elevation: 846 m
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Nahoon River
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality > East London
Average elevation: 136 m
Brunei
Average elevation: 100 m
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Orange River
The Orange rises in the Drakensberg mountains along the border between South Africa and Lesotho, about 193 km (120 mi) west of the Indian Ocean and at an altitude of over 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The extremity of the Orange River inside Lesotho is known as the Senqu. Parts of the Senqu River freeze in winter…
Average elevation: 966 m
Mutale Local Municipality
South Africa > Limpopo > Vhembe District Municipality
Average elevation: 469 m
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Ingquza Hill Local Municipality
South Africa > Eastern Cape > O.R. Tambo District Municipality
Average elevation: 526 m
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City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
Ekurhuleni lies on the highveld plateau at about 1600 metres in altitude above sea level (asl). The highest elevation is at the Gillooly's Ridge – Bill Stewart Side – Fisher's Hill at 1772 metres asl. The lowest point is at 1552 metres asl. The city is rich in wetlands, pans, streams and rivers. The city…
Average elevation: 1,588 m
Midvaal Local Municipality
South Africa > Gauteng > Sedibeng District Municipality
Average elevation: 1,531 m
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Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve
South Africa > Western Cape > Cape Winelands District Municipality > Paarl
Average elevation: 395 m
Addo Elephant National Park
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Sarah Baartman District Municipality
Average elevation: 375 m
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Gamtoos River
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Sarah Baartman District Municipality
Average elevation: 261 m
Emfuleni Local Municipality
South Africa > Gauteng > Sedibeng District Municipality
Average elevation: 1,501 m
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Johannesburg Botanical Gardens
South Africa > Gauteng > City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality > Johannesburg
Average elevation: 1,633 m
Nahoon River
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality > KuGompo City
Average elevation: 53 m
Mbizana Local Municipality
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Alfred Nzo District Municipality
Average elevation: 635 m
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Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve
The reserve includes a variety of landscapes including slopes, cliffs, crests, kloofs, rivers, wetlands and valleys. Although the area covers a diverse geological area, it consists mainly of the Magaliesberg mountain complex comprising two geological formations: the Transvaal System and the Bushveld Igneous…
Average elevation: 1,366 m
Maphumulo Local Municipality
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > iLembe District Municipality
Average elevation: 552 m
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Kariega River
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Sarah Baartman District Municipality
Average elevation: 436 m
Wilgerfontein River
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > uMgungundlovu District Municipality > Msunduzi Local Municipality > Edendale
Average elevation: 781 m
Umzumbe Local Municipality
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > Ugu District Municipality
Average elevation: 417 m
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Richmond Local Municipality
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > uMgungundlovu District Municipality
Average elevation: 837 m
Thyspunt
South Africa > Eastern Cape > Sarah Baartman District Municipality > Kouga Local Municipality
Average elevation: 82 m
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Etwatwa
South Africa > Gauteng > City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
Average elevation: 1,611 m
Ndwedwe Local Municipality
South Africa > KwaZulu-Natal > iLembe District Municipality
Average elevation: 406 m
Malmesbury
South Africa > Western Cape > West Coast District Municipality > Swartland Local Municipality
Average elevation: 171 m
Malgas Island Marine Protected Area
The type of rock of the reef is of some importance, as it influences the range of possibilities for the local topography, which in turn influences the range of habitats provided, and therefore the diversity of inhabitants. Sandstone and other sedimentary rocks erode and weather very differently, and depending…
Average elevation: 2 m
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