Land and People

The province has two capitals, Pietermaritzburg and Ulundi; the largest city is Durban. The province is bounded on the north by Mozambique, Swaziland, and Mpumalanga and on the west by Free State, Lesotho, and Eastern Cape; a small portion of Eastern Cape also forms an enclave in S Natal. The province rises from a narrow (except in the north) coastal belt to an inland region fringed in the west by the Drakensberg Range, whose highest point in Natal is c.11,200 ft (3,410 m). The Tugela River flows west to east across the center of the province.

Sugar refining is the main industry. Sheep, cattle, citrus fruits, corn, sorghum, cotton, bananas, and pineapples are also raised. Industries, located mainly in and around Durban, include (besides sugar refineries) textile, clothing, rubber, fertilizer, paper, and food-processing plants, tanneries, and oil refineries. There large aluminum-smelting plants at Richards Bay, on the central coast. The province produces considerable coal (especially coking coal) and timber. It has a good rail network; Durban is one of South Africa's major ports. About 75% of the population is black. During apartheid, a large percentage were forced to live in Bantu homelands (Bantustans), which had a subsistence economy based on cattle raising and corn growing. The main institutions of higher education are the Univ. of Natal (Durban and Pietermaritzburg) and the Univ. of Durban. Natal National Park in the Drakensberg Range includes falls (c.2,800 ft/850 m) of the Tugela River.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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