Much of the population engages in subsistence farming, even though only 10.71% of the country's surface is classified as arable land and 0.13% has permanent crops. Much of the land has been ruined by soil erosion. The most fertile farmlands are in the northern and central lowlands, and in the foothills between the lowlands and the mountains. Large tracts of the fertile farmland to the north of the country—in the Free State region of South Africa—were lost to European colonists in wars during the 19th century.