Maputaland is a natural region of Southern Africa . It is located in the northern part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa between Eswatini and the coast. In a wider sense it may also include the southernmost region of Mozambique . The bird routes and coral reefs off the coast are major tourist attractions.
6-654: Now the name of this traditional region is being revived for the Maputaland-Pondoland bushland and thickets , one of the ecoregions of South Africa, as well as for the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot . Maputaland is bordered by the Ubombo Mountains in the west and the Indian Ocean in the east. It covers an area of about 10,000 km, stretching approximately from the town of Hluhluwe and
12-563: The montane shrubland biome . The ecoregion occupies the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains, covering an area of 19,500 square kilometers (7,500 sq mi) in South Africa's Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. It is bounded on the east by the KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic , which lies in the humid coastal strip along the Indian Ocean ; to the west it is bounded by
18-406: The higher-elevation Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests . To the south, it transitions to the drier Albany thickets , which are characterized by more succulent and spiny plants. The ecoregion experiences a dry subtropical climate characterised by varying rainfall levels, ranging from 800 mm to 450 mm per year. The majority of rainfall, approximately three-quarters, occurs during
24-552: The northern section of Lake St. Lucia to the border of Mozambique and South Africa, or beyond to Maputo in Mozambique. The South African section of Maputaland was also previously known as Tongaland after the Tonga people who live there. The usually flat region feeds the Phongolo and Mkhuze River . On 11 June 1895, Tongaland was annexed by Great Britain . 'Tongaland', the name of
30-501: The traditional region of the Tsonga, has now largely fallen into disuse. It is still occasionally found in scientific works though, as well as in the naming of species, such as the Tongaland cannibal snail (Natalina wesseliana) . Maputaland-Pondoland bushland and thickets The Maputaland-Pondoland bushland and thickets is one of the ecoregions of South Africa . It consists of
36-458: The warm summer months between October and March. Frosts are infrequent due to the moderating influence of the nearby Indian Ocean . The typical vegetation is sclerophyll evergreen shrubs, which form dense, closed canopy thickets up to six meters in height. The ecoregion, which is in a transition between moist and dry, montane and lowland, and temperate and tropical, has a rich diversity of species, although with few endemics . The ecoregion
#960039