Upington

Upington is a town founded in 1871 and located in the Northern Cape, South Africa, along the Orange River. The elevation is 2742 feet (835 metres) and co-ordinates are Latitude 28 degrees 24 South and Longitude 21 degrees 16 East. It is the closest large centre to the Augrabies Falls, arguably the king of South African waterfalls. The landscape is very arid but the soil is fertile and crops such as fruit are grown in irrigated fields.

Upington has an airport, to which regular flights are operated by the South African Airways family. Until the 1960s, the annual gliding world championships were held at the airport. In the first half of the 20th century there was a passenger train service from Cape Town to Upington but it is not clear whether this service is still in existence. In the 1950's a narrow gauge railway line (two foot gauge) ran from Upington to Kakamas and Keimoes, two nearby towns. The trains carried passengers and freight, being mainly dried fruit. The line was closed long ago.