Geography of the Western Cape

region of the Western Cape, South Africa

ecoregion in South Africa

thumb|350px|Renosterveld habitat above cultivated fields, [[Western Cape]]

thumb|left|The quartz strewn landscape of the Knersvlakte. The Knersvlakte is a region of hilly terrain covered with quartz gravel in Namaqualand in the north-west corner of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The name, literally "gnashing plain" in Afrikaans, is thought to be derived from the crunching of wagonwheels as they moved over the hard quartz stones.

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thumb|Riebeek Kasteel thumb|A winter view of the Swartland from space The Swartland is a region of Western Cape Province that begins some north of Cape Town and consists of the area between the towns of Malmesbury in the south, Darling in the west, Piketberg in the north, Moorreesburg in the middle and the Riebeek West and Riebeek Kasteel in the east. Jan van Riebeeck called this softly undulating country between the mountain ranges "Het Zwarte Land" (the Black Land) because of the endemic Renosterbos (Elytropappus rhinocerotis). After the rains, mainly in winter, the Renosterbos takes on a da