The Northern Cape is a large, dry region of fluctuating temperatures and varying topographies.

De Aar is one of the major towns in the Northern Cape. It was established in 1881 when a portion of the farm called De Aar was purchased to set up a railway junction.
De Aar, meaning "artery", after the underground water supply, is the second most important railway junction in South Africa.
De Aar was also home to Olive Schreiner, the famous author and feminist who wrote Women and Labour.

De Aar has the world’s second largest ammunition museum and the largest ammunition depot in the southern hemisphere.
The town also has an ostrich abattoir, a sheep abattoirs and a weather station.
The Fly De Aar Paragliding School is one of the major tourist attractions in the area and is visited by people from all over the world.

Other attractions in De Aar include:
Garden of Remembrance - honouring British soldiers killed in the Anglo-Boer War.
Khoisan rock engravings - in the district on the farms Nooitgedacht and Brandfontein