Interesting Facts about South Africa that will Surprise You

There are quite a lot of unknown and interesting facts about South Africa that people often overlook.  Here are some facts that will surprise you about this country.

History and Nature

•    The world’s second highest waterfall called Tugela Falls can be found here.  Its water tumbles down from 850 meters.
•    Two billion years ago, a meteor plummeted to South Africa.  In fact, the world’s oldest meteor scar can be found there in Vredefort Dome right across Vaal River and very near Parys.

•    Some of the world’s most ancient rocks are in Barberton, Mpumalanga – they are formed over three billion years ago.  And because they are the most accessible formations, NASA scientists come to gain idea on how life might have formed on distant planets.

•    Out of the 18,000 indigenous vascular species of plants found in South Africa, 80% are uniquely from South Africa itself.

•    Another interesting fact about South Africa is the biodiversity of its grasslands which are greater than the rainforests since there are 30 species of plants per square kilometer living there.

•    You can find Blyde River Canyon – the world’s greenest and third largest canyon (the U.S. Grand Canyon is the biggest while Fish River Canyon located in Namibia is the second, however, both are as dry as bones).

Food and Wine

•    South Africa has R62 wine route, which is considered to be the world’s longest wine route.

•    In the United States, Walt Disney serves only South African wine in its Animal Kingdom Lodge (spanning 73 acres).

•    Other interesting facts about South Africa include their restaurants that are serving monkey gland steak, but without the real internal organ in it.  This was just a pointed insult invented by overseas chefs many decades ago and aimed at Johannesburg inhabitants who poured tomato sauce and Worcestershire over everything.

•    This country is the largest producer of oils and macadamia nuts exported to various countries in the world.

Industry and Innovation

•    The South African people are natural inventors – they gave automatic pool cleaner and breakwater to the world.

•    General Motors in South Africa is the only manufacturing site to build Hummer H3 vehicle outside of the U.S.

•    This country is also the one and only producer of right hand drive, C class Mercedes Benz.

•    The most viable, the largest, and the first oil-from-coal refinery came from South Africa (right now supplying 40% of their petrol).

•    The country designs and creates the flight control technology used in Britain’s fighter jets and makes Concorde seats.  In fact, it may come as a surprise to you that one of its physicists co-developed CAT-scan.

These are among the most interesting facts about South Africa that you might not have known until now. GP