The Roggeveld Mountains (Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

: Roggeveldberge) is a mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

 situated mainly in the Northern Cape

Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...

 province of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The range is named after the Roggeveld

Roggeveld

The Roggeveld is a plateau located in the East Cape, in South Africa, in the Karoo area. The name comes from wild rye which was once plentiful in the area. The Roggeveld Mountains, lying west of the plateau in Northern Cape, are named after it....

 plateau

Plateau

In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...

, lying east of the eponymous mountain range. Unmarked on many regional maps, it occupies a remote part of the Northern Cape, seldom visited by tourists. The range lies between the towns of Calvinia

Calvinia

Calvinia is a regional town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa named after the Swiss religious reformer John Calvin. The town belongs to the Hantam Local Municipality which forms part of the Namakwa District Municipality. The Calvinia district is part of the Great Karoo region of South...

 and Sutherland

Sutherland, Northern Cape

- External links :* * *...

, east and northeast of Tankwa Karoo National Park

Tankwa Karoo National Park

Tankwa Karoo National Park is a Scientific National Park in South Africa. The park lies about 70 km due west of Sutherland near the border of the Northern Cape and Western Cape, in one of the most arid regions of South Africa, receiving 50 to 70 mm of precipitation in an average year. The mean...

.

The mountains receive about 200 mm of rainfall in a normal year. The Ouberg Pass 32.403788°S 20.333312°E crosses the range at an altitude of 1,404 meters, while the Bloukrans Pass crosses it northern promontory, the Bloukrans Mountain. Sutherland, in the western part of the range, is one of the coldest places in South Africa.