I've Got a Brand New Combine Harvester Online Quiz | Geography

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The Cape Winelands is the largest wine producing region in South Africa, situated in the Western Cape. The South African wine industry was established in the 1600s when the second governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der Stel, purchased and developed which wine estate in 1685?

Answer: Constantia

Jan van Riebeek, the first governor of the Cape of Good Hope, was tasked by the Dutch East India Company to plant vineyards in the Cape. Wine and grapes were to be provided to sailors travelling along the "spice route", to prevent scurvy.

The wine producing districts derive benefit from the coastal influence of the Atlantic and Indian oceans which helps create the Cape's Mediterranean climate. Gale force winds help prevent mildew and fungal grape disease too. South African wines are world renowned and have won multiple awards at the International Wine and Spirits Competition.

2. Named after a Roman goddess, a fertile valley in the Western Cape is South Africa's leading producer of deciduous fruit. Which goddess is it named after?

Answer: Ceres

The Ceres valley is found in the Cape Winelands district, found by the Hex river mountain range. Due to the Mediterranean climate and fairly consistent yearly rainfall, the area is perfectly suited to the cultivation of apples, pears and various stone fruits.

The Ceres Beverage Company, uses only fruit from the valley and exports their product all over the world. Their largest market is the United States. Ceres advertises their product as being without preservatives and "100% pure".

3. Pineapples are best grown in tropical regions that are warm, humid and have constant temperatures. Pineapples in South Africa are cultivated in the Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces and are one of South Africa's most commercially important plants. Kwazulu-Natal accounts for a quarter of the crop and produces the Queen variety. The Eastern Cape produces the rest and grows which pepper named variety?

Answer: Cayenne

The Smooth Cayenne pineapple is larger than the Queen variety. It has smooth leaves, whereas the Queen has thorns on its leaves. Three quarters of the Smooth Cayenne production is exported and due to the fact that the Queen is more costly to grow, the Smooth Cayenne is produced more for fresh consumption than the Queen variety.

Globally South Africa is a relatively small pineapple producer in terms of hectares, but has a fairly large export market in Europe exporting as of 2010, 44% of its production.

4. Since 1864 a particular breed of bird has been bred commercially in Oudtshoorn, found in the semi-desert Little Karoo region. Prior to World War I, these feathers were the fourth most expensive export in South Africa after gold, diamonds and wool. Which bird is it?

Answer: Ostrich

Oudtshoorn is found in the Little Karoo region which is classified as semi desert, separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg mountains in the Western Cape.

Oudtshoorn has the world's largest ostrich population and is completely reliant economically on the sale of ostrich feathers, leather and meat. The avian flu in 2004-2005 forced farmers to cull a huge number of birds and caused a 700 million rand loss in exports to the country. In the early 21st century, Oudtshoorn accounted for 80% of the world's ostrich products.

5. South Africa produces avocados commercially in the Mpumalanga (59%) and Limpopo (33%) regions in the north east of the country. Avocados are grown best in sub tropical regions with high rainfall in excess of 1000 mm per annum, for which these regions are renowned. Is South Africa the top avocado producer in the world?

Answer: No

Mexico is the top avocado producer in the world. South Africa is not rated in the world's top ten avocado producers, but ninety per cent of South African's total commercial production is exported to the United States and United Kingdom. The remaining ten per cent is used locally.

Mpumalanga and Limpopo are two of South Africa's nine provinces, both of which border Mozambique to the east of Africa. The whole area is sub-tropical and has significant annual rainfall which is perfect for avocado production.

6. South African sugar cane is grown in fourteen different areas. It extends from the Eastern Cape province on the southeastern coast to Kwazulu-Natal province along the coastal belt and then inland as far as the Mpumalanga province in the northeast. What is the average annual production of sugar in South Africa?

Answer: 19 Million tons

The areas in which sugarcane is grown extend over three of South Africa's provinces, namely Eastern Province, Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Eastern Province and Kwazulu-Natal are both coastal provinces and the sugarcane is grown within 30 kilometres of the ocean. The remainder of the sugarcane is grown in well irrigated fields in the Mpumalanga lowveld which falls between the Drakensberg and Mozambique. This area is subtropical.

Approximately half of South Africa's annual sugar production is exported to countries throughout Africa, the Middle and Far East. South Africa is one of the world's top ten sugar producers.

7. Maize (corn) is South Africa's most important crop. The maize producing area is divided into four regions - "Warm Western", "Temperate Eastern", "Cold Eastern" and "Kwazulu-Natal". Which South African province makes up a part of three of the four regions?

Answer: Free State

Free State is situated almost centrally in the country and is one of three South African provinces that border the landlocked country of Lesotho. The "Warm Western" region is western Free State and North West. "Temperate Eastern" is Gauteng and central Free State and the "Cold Eastern" is Mpumalanga Highveld and eastern Free State. Kwazulu-Natal is a province all on its own.
In 2014, 26% of South Africa's maize exports went to Taiwan. Zimbabwe accounted for 14& and a further 7% of the total export went to Botswana, Japan and South Korea.

8. South Africa's biggest province is Northern Cape. Its capital city is Kimberley, which is the site of one of the world's largest open pit mines. The area is arid to semi arid, has very little rainfall and is perfectly suited to the farming of which livestock?

Answer: Sheep

Namaqualand on the west coast of the Northern Cape is famed for its Spring flowers. The Kalahari desert lies to the north and the province is dominated by Karoo rocks which has provided the province with its main source of income, diamonds. Game farming, beef farming, wheat farming as well as wool and mohair production are all strong industries, but sheep farming is the second biggest agricultural sector in the province.

9. The North West province in South Africa is the fourth smallest province. It borders the country of Botswana and the Magaliesberg mountain range extends through the province. Most of the province consists of grassland and has some of the largest cattle herds in the world. Which river forms the southern provincial border?

Answer: Vaal

The North West province has the approximate size of Pennsylvania, US. It is the site of two different popular sites in the country, namely Sun City (one of the world's biggest entertainment centres) and the Pilanesberg National Park. Over 90% of the country's platinum is mined in the province. North West is a major producer of white maize in the country as well.

The Vaal river is the largest tributary of the Orange river. It runs from Mpumalanga province in the north east and meets up with the Orange river near Kimberley in the Northern Cape.

10. Saldanha Bay is the largest natural bay on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town of Saldanha is a major part of the South African fishing industry and is home to many fishing canneries. Named for a Portuguese boat captain who visited South Africa in the 1500s, to which other well known South African bay was the name first attributed?

Answer: Table Bay

Table Bay is a natural bay situated in Cape Town, overlooked by the iconic Table Mountain. It was first called Saldanha Bay, due to the fact that Captain Saldanha's fleet anchored there, but it was renamed Table Bay in the 1600s. The name was then transferred to the current bay that holds the name.

The town of Saldanha is primarily a fishing industry town, with numerous fishing canneries being located there. The area is noted for its seafood processing including rock lobster and mussels.

Recently the harbour has been developed to accommodate the transport of iron ore from Sishen mines from where iron ore is exported. Being a natural sheltered harbour makes it perfect for this purpose.

Source: Author kino76

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

I've Got a Brand New Combine Harvester Quiz

South Africa is uniquely situated geographically to be able to produce a wide variety of crops and yields. Take a tour through some of South Africa's landscape.

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