Kalahari Desert, large basinlike plain of the interior plateau of Southern Africa. It occupies almost all of Botswana, the eastern third of Namibia, and the northernmost part of Northern Cape province in South Africa. In the southwest it merges with the Namib, the coastal desert of Namibia. One of the most surprising Kalahari Desert facts is that it is not a desert in the strictest sense of the word. It is a semi-desert receiving 110–200 mm (4.3–7.9 in) of rain per year and the wettest can receive more than 500 millimeters (20 in) in very wet years. The Kalahari is regarded as one of Africa’s last wilderness areas and is probably one of the largest relatively undisturbed arid savannas in Africa hosting animals like Some of the iconic carnivores of the Kalahari include the Kalahari lions, cheetahs, leopards, and wild dogs. Notable herbivores include elephants, black rhinos, larger herds of gemsbok, hartebeest, springbok, wildebeest, and impalas.