Kalahari Basin

The Kalahari Basin (or Kalahari Depression) is a large lowland area covering over 2.5 million km² covering most of Botswana and parts of Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The outstanding physical feature in the basin is the large Kalahari Desert, taking up most of the area.

Ecology

Despite its aridity, the Kalahari supports a variety of fauna and flora. The native flora includes acacia trees and a number of other herbs and grasses. Some of the areas within the Kalahari are seasonal wetlands, such as the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana. This area, for example, supports numerous halophilic species and, in the rainy season tens of thousands of flamingos visit these pans.

See also

• Nxai Pan
• Nata River
• Tsodilo Hills

• C. Michael Hogan (2008) Makgadikgadi, Megalithic Portal, ed. A.Burnham
• Martin Leipold (2008) Plants of the Kalahari