Geography of South Africa ore from the interior. South Africa is largely a dry country, with most of its western regions being semi-desert. The rainfall increases in the east, (the Highveld, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Midlands), and falls primarily in summer. The narrow southern coastal strip receives all-year rainfall in the east (the Garden Route), and winter rainfall in the west (on the Cape Peninsula and its surrounds). The summers are warm to hot, while the winter temperatures can vary, depending on locality from bitterly cold to cool. Thus the Karoo, which occupies a large part of the western Central Plateau, has a climate
Semi-arid climate Diego, California (at its main airport), which has cool summers for the latitude due to prevailing winds off the ocean (so the average annual temperature is below 18°C) but mild winters (average temperature in January, 14°C, and closer to the 18.0°C isotherm that separates tropical and subtropical climates than to the 0°C or −3°C isotherm for the coldest month that separates temperate and continental climates). </ref> Semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate or steppe climate is the climate of a region that receives precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-arid