South Africa has nine provinces, each with its own legislature, premier and executive council - and distinctive landscape, population, economy and climate.

South Africa and its provinces, regions, cities and suburbs. Tourist accommodation and recreation venues. Get the big picture - then zoom in close and get the details - with a range of excellent mapping websites.

Here's the big picture, and it's looking good. Get a new perspective on South Africa with our gallery of some of the best satellite images of the country, from the mouth of the magnificent Orange River in the west to the St Lucia wetlands in the east.

Tourists flock to Cape Point every year to witness the beautiful scenery and the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Residents of Cape Agulhas, however, argue that visitors wanting to see the confluence of the two oceans will have to travel a little further east and south ...

Two billion years ago a meteorite bigger than Table Mountain hit the earth 100km southwest of Johannesburg, causing a 1 000-megaton blast that vaporised 70 cubic kilometres of rock and may have changed the earth's climate to make multicellular life possible. Welcome to the Vredefort Dome.

The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park has outstanding natural beauty, Africa's highest mountain range south of Kilimanjaro, a fascinating and ancient geology, some of the rarest animals in the world - and the largest series of rock art in Africa.