The Wildebeest - all about South Africa - towns, places of interest, animals and plants

The Wildebeest's guide to South Africa

Limpopo Province

Afrikaans name: Limpopo provinsie

Limpopo is home to the Kruger National Park and other game reserves and tourist attractions. It is the most northerly of South Africa’s provinces and it shares borders with Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The province takes its name from the Limpopo River which marks the borders between South Africa and Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The northern half of the world-famous Kruger National Park is situated in Limpopo with the southern half being in Mpumalanga. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the reserve every year and it should definitely be on everyone’s tour itinerary. There are many other game reserves in the province and these, along with Kruger National Park, are the main tourist attractions in this province. Besides Kruger National Park there are plenty of small game reserves including some private ones catering for upmarket clients.

Limpopo’s economy is mainly dependent on three activities – mining, agriculture and tourism. A variety of minerals are mined in the province including iron ore, chrome and platinum. A lot of the land is used for raising beef cattle but crops such as maize, cotton and sunflowers are also grown. The capital city is Polokwane.