The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa, with two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo.
The Hottentots and Bushmen, probable descendants of the southern African Stone Age peoples, lived in what they called the "Place of Great Dryness", from which the name "Karoo" is derived.
Great Karoo
The Great Karoo (Groot Karoo in Afrikaans) is the current-day face of a vast inland sea that covered this region of South Africa approximately 250 million years ago.
As the world's climate gradually became warmer, this sea evaporated and changed into a swamp where reptiles and amphibians prospered. The fossilised remains of these ancient creatures can still be found in the Karoo today, in the sedimentary rock that formed centuries ago.
Little Karoo
As the name implies, the Little Karoo (Klein Karoo in Afrikaans) is the smaller, more southerly of the two Karoo sub-regions. The Little Karoo is a fertile valley enclosed by the Swartberg, Langeberg and Outeniqua mountains, featuring many spectacular rock formations and passes.
Recent Karoo
Rather recently (less than two hundred years ago), after some more drying and evaporation occurred, large herds of antelope and zebras roamed the Karoo's expansive grass flats.
European settlers first explored the Karoo in the late 17th century, and encountered the Khoisan people living in a semi-arid area.
When European settler stock farmers occupied the Karoo region and started grazing sheep here, the grass gradually receded due to the changed grazing and weather patterns, and game became scarcer.
War In The Karoo
During the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 three Republican Commandos, reinforced by the rebels from the Cape Colony, conducted widespread operations throughout the Karoo. Countless skirmishes took place in the region, with especially the Calvinia magisterial district contributing a significant number of fighters to the Republican cause.
Fought both conventionally and as a guerilla struggle over the Karoo's vast expanses, the Second Anglo-Boer War was a bloody war of attrition wherein both sides used newly developed technologies to their advantage.
The numerous remains, and some very intact blockhouses can still be seen at strategic locations throughout the Great Karoo. A prime example of a Karoo blockhouse can be found next to the Geelbeks River, 12 kilometers outside the town of Laingsburg.
Karoo Economy
Due to modern farming methods, the Karoo was turned into a productive farming district. Sheep farming is still the economic backbone of the Karoo, while other forms of agriculture takes place in areas where irrigation is possible.
Game farms and tourism have also recently started to make an economic impact in the Karoo. "Die Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees" (KKNK) or in English, "The Little Karoo National Arts Festival", is the original Afrikaans Arts Festival in South Africa. The KKNK occurs annually in Oudtshoorn, and provides a welcome financial injection for the town, as Afrikaans South Africans from all over descend on the Karoo town.
Oudtshoorn is a main town in the Klein Karoo region, but some well-known mission stations such as Zoar, Amalienstein and Dysselsdorp are also situated here.
De Aar is an important town in the Great Karoo, but a good argument can be made, that EVERY town in the Karoo is important, because of the vast distances that separate them.
