Country Focus 10 of 11
Country Focus Geography Environment & Climate

Lesotho enclaved within, a 3,000 km coastline and the Orange River: the physical frame of South Africa

South Africa, whose Northern Cape mining expansion and provincial elections are in the news this week, covers a land area of 1,219,602 square kilometres.
The Government of South Africa lists its neighbours as Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, the country now officially named Eswatini, with Lesotho lying entirely within South African territory in the south-east.
Its coastline runs more than 3,000 kilometres, from the Namibian border on the Atlantic, around the southern tip of Africa, to the Mozambican border on the Indian Ocean.
The highest point is in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, at 3,482 metres above sea level.
The Orange is the largest river; it rises in the Drakensberg, passes through the Lesotho Highlands and flows into the Atlantic, forming the border with Namibia.
The Limpopo is among the other major rivers.

Land area: 1,219,602 km2 Coastline: more than 3,000 km Highest point: KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, 3,482 m Largest river: Orange
Why it matters for exams: Lesotho as an enclave, the Orange forming the Namibian border and the Drakensberg high point are repeat map questions.
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16 October 2026 Source: Government of South Africa

In plain words

Enclave Enclaved state — A country whose territory is entirely surrounded by that of one other country, as Lesotho is by South Africa.

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