Mpumalanga lies in the northeast of South Africa, bordering KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State to the south, Gauteng to the west and Limpopo to the north. Its international neighbours are Swaziland to the southeast and Mozambique to the east. The second-smallest of South Africa’s provinces after Gauteng, Mpumalanga has a land area of 79 490 square kilometres, making it slightly larger than the Czech Republic. Its capital is Nelspruit.

Mpumalanga falls mainly within the grassland biome. The escarpment and the Lowveld form a transitional zone between this grassland area and the savanna biome. Long sweeps of undulating grasslands change abruptly into thickly forested ravines and thundering waterfalls of the escarpment, only to change again into the subtropical wildlife splendour of the Lowveld.

The province is a summer-rainfall area, with occasional winter snow on high ground in the escarpment. The escarpment area sometimes experiences snow on high ground. Thick mist is common during the hot and humid summers.

Economy
Mpumalanga’s economy grew by 4.2% during 2007, and 4.4% in 2006. Its economy is worth R138.7-billion and contributes 6.9% to national GDP.

In 2007, the largest industries in the economy were mining and quarrying (20.5% each), manufacturing (17.5%) and finance, real estate and business services (11.2%). The construction industry made the lowest contribution (2.1%) to GDP.

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