South Africa: Geography, History, Economy and Culture

this is the Cape of Good Hope near the southernmost tip one of the most famous coastlines in all the world on this coast is the city of Cape Town looking at Cape Town we're seeing only a very small part of the various lands and people's of southern Africa in this film all the area south of this line to the Cape of Good Hope is the land we're calling southern Africa in this area live many different people farmers near the Cape of Good Hope miners far inland villagers in small communities who cling to simple traditional ways and methods the history of the peoples of southern Africa is a story of great waves of migration movement into southern Africa from other parts of the continent and of immigration movement of people from other parts of the world among the earliest peoples known in southern Africa were the tribes of Hottentots and Bushmen who probably migrated from the north the hottentots and Bushmen will gradually conquered by other groups of migrants from the north the migrations began more than 600 years ago as early as 1300 such migrants were members of several different tribes called Bantu tribes the bantu settled in the central and eastern parts of southern Africa in the middle 1600s immigration from Europe mostly from the Netherlands began later immigrants from England and Portugal came gradually many of these European settlers moved inland beginning in the middle 1800s Asian peoples from India began to settle along the east coast the descendants of these different groups are the peoples of southern Africa today these are the children of people who have built nations in southern Africa these are the children of people who are preparing for nationhood southern Africa today is made up of seven different countries Southwest Africa wanna land Southern Rhodesia Mozambique of which were including only the southern part the Republic of South Africa and bhasu Thailand and Swaziland in these lands farming is a cheap occupation this farmer raises grapes near the south coast many kinds of fruits thrive in the mild climate which is much like that of lands around the Mediterranean Sea peaches are one of the many fruits grown on the southern coast northward along the coast the climate is more tropical like that in the state of Florida here citrus fruits especially oranges are grown some fruit is exported across the seas in the form of jams and jellies this fruit industry depends upon an adequate supply of sugar sugarcane is another crop which does well in the tropical climate some sugar is also exported another export gaining in importance is seafood rock lobsters are caught along the coast of southern Africa we've seen two coastal regions a region with a Mediterranean climate and a more tropical region further north along the western coast is a region of desert and semi-desert lands inland from these three low coastal regions is high country of wide rolling plateau lands in this high country tobacco is one of the important farm crops a crop grow nearly everywhere in the eastern high country is maize or corn corn is known as Neely's in southern Africa corn is grown on small family farms as well as on large commercial farms corn is one of the important food crops of southern Africa much land is to drive for food crops but grassland such as this is good pasture land for cattle with dairy cattle originally from Holland fine herds have been developed by farmers of Dutch ancestry in southern Africa settlers from the British Isles brought sheep and today sheep ranching is a big industry this sheep rancher lives in the high southwestern part of southern Africa in a dry region called the kuru sheep which can live on sparse pasture do well here we've seen some of Southern Africa's agricultural wealth equally important is the vast mineral wealth the largest single deposit of gold in the world was discovered here in 1886 these are gold mines near the famous mining centre of Johannesburg since 1886 gold mining has developed as a major industry in southern Africa gold mining and the many industries producing mining equipment and supplies employ thousands of workers these are bars of gold bullion produced from or mind and smelted in southern Africa this great gold reserve is only a part of the vast mineral wealth of southern Africa for example this mine at Yonkers fontaine produces diamonds thousands of tons of diamond bearing rock must be mined to produce a pound of diamonds diamonds are sorted by hand to separate the lower grade industrial diamonds from the costly gemstones the worldwide demand for diamonds has brought great income to southern Africa today more recently discovered minerals are adding to this source of wealth these miners work in one of Southern Africa's coal mines coal is needed by the growing industries in southern Africa the transportation industries especially railroads depend upon coal for fuel coal is burned to produce electricity in urban and industrial areas this modern refinery produces gasoline from coal and is one of the largest of its kind in the world coal is also needed in the manufacture of steel a growing industry high-grade iron ore for making steel is mined in southern Africa as his chrome ore and asbestos uranium is one of the most important new mineral discoveries the vast mineral wealth of southern Africa brings new industries and jobs and more and more workers are needed workers who are moving from rural to urban areas more and more people in farming areas especially the Bantu people on their farms and villages these migrants are moving in great numbers into cities such as the mining centers of yonkers fontaine and Johannesburg Johannesburg is today the largest city in southern Africa a city as modern and busy as the large cities of Europe and North America to work in the shops factories and mines of the cities come the hundreds of migrants from rural areas for many migrants learning city ways is a new and exciting experience yet often when these people non Europeans and Europeans meet differences arise the Bantu exposed to European standards seek a better education and a more active part in economic and political affairs the movement of people into cities also brings about many other problems housing must be built for growing urban populations new offices and factories are needed to increase opportunities for employment to move the products of new industries transportation needs to be improved the people of southern Africa those living on the land and those living in urban areas are involved in the many changes taking place in this part of the world meeting these changes is a major challenge for both Europeans and non Europeans in southern Africa today [Music] you