KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

largest national park in South Africa. It lies in Northern province and Mpumalanga province, west of the Lebombo Mountains on the Mozambique border. Established in part in 1898, the park in 1926 was named for Paul Kruger, former president of the South African Republic (or the Transvaal) and builder of the Afrikaner nation. The park, with an area of 7,523 square miles (19,485 square km), is about 200 miles (320 km) long and 25 to 50 miles (40 to 80 km) wide. Its generally flat terrain with low ranges of hills is traversed by nearly 5,000 miles of paved and gravel roads. Vegetation varies from open veld to dense bush that includes mopane, acacia, marula, and baobab trees. Wildlife includes elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, buffalo, rhinoceros, zebra, wildebeest, impala, and numerous birds. Although six perennial rivers cross the park, droughts often make artificial watering necessary. The headquarters of the park are at Skukuza.