File:South Africa (MODIS 2017-04-25).jpg

English: The Republic of South Africa lies in the southern-most section of the continent of Africa, encompassing most of the land located between the Limpopo River in the north to Cape Agulhas in the south – or about 470,000 sq. mi (1,219,090 sq. km). The long coastlines stretch more than 1844 miles (2,968 km) along the Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Indian Ocean in the west. The two oceans meet at the Cape of Agulhas, the most southerly point in all of Africa.

On April 16, 2017, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite flew over South Africa and acquired a true-color image of the southern part of that country.

In the southwest, the hook-shaped Cape of Good Hope wraps around False Bay. The gray pixels on False Bay mark Cape Town, the second largest city in South Africa. On the southwestern coast the image reaches the village of St. Francis Bay. The bay in the northwest corner of the image is St. Helena Bay. Inland, the semi-arid Great Karoo appears as an unmistakable feature in the southeast section of the image. It is separated from the Little Karoo, which lies nearer the coast as is less arid, by mountainous ridges.

Most of South Africa is semi-arid, with the country receiving a mean annual rainfall of 464 mm (18.3 in). The coastline, however, receives more rainfall and thus supports a wide variety of vegetation. The southeastern coastline hosts what is called the “Garden Route” – an area noted for the diversity of habitat, ecosystems, flora, and fauna. The Garden Route includes several marine reserves and ten nature reserves.