veld(t) - Highveld and Lowveld

The undulating plateau grassland of S Africa, primarily in Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa. It can be divided into the high veld (over 1500 m/c.5000 ft), middle veld (900–1500 m/c.3 000–5000 ft) and low veld (under 900 m/c.3000 ft). The nature of the veld also changes from bush veld to grass veld or sand veld.

The term Veld, or Veldt, refers primarily (but not exclusively) to the wide open rural spaces of South Africa or southern Africa and in particular to certain flatter areas or districts covered in grass or low scrub. Veld can be compared to the Australian terms 'outback' or 'bush', to 'the prairie' of North America, or to the 'pampas' of South America but the comparisons are not exact. The term 'veld', in Low German usage, is used to mean a place which is generally overgrown or has gone fallow, such as a thicket or a field which has become overgrown from lack of maintenance.

By extension, the veld can be compared to 'the boondocks' or those places 'beyond the black stump' in Australia. There is a sense in which it refers in essence to unimproved land (and is therefore not the equivalent of the English 'paddock') but in other senses the veld can include areas used both for pastoral activities and the planting of crops. There are minor examples of bosveld here and there but the term is used mainly to describe Die Bosveld ("The Bushveld"), which is both a loose botanical classification and a specific geographical part of what used to be know as The Transvaal (see for example Jock of the Bushveld).

The word "veld" also carries military connotations. The word "field" in English has a strong association with "war," as evidenced by the expression "the first foe in the field" and the lines of the ballad Lord Marlborough: "You generals all and champions bold, that takes delight in field, that knocks down churches and castle walls but now to death must yield".

Highveld and Lowveld

Much of the interior of southern Africa consists of a high plateau known as the Highveld. These higher, cooler areas (generally more than 5000 ft [1524m] above sea level) are characterized by flat or gently undulating terrain, grasslands and a modified tropical or subtropical climate.

Some surrounding, lower areas are known as lowveld and are generally hotter and less intensively cultivated. These areas used to be known as 'fever country' and were avoided by mounted travellers, owing to the susceptibility of horses to a form of the disease. Veld is the name of the leader of the Turks in Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis.