The 100 Wonders Project | Mapungubwe guide

The essential experience.

A detail that changes the visit

Access to sensitive archaeological places may be guided or restricted; use the official park programme.

The landscape of Mapungubwe National Park — Mapungubwe NP, Limpopo, SOUTH AFRICAPhoto: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0

For the curious reader

History, landscape and context.

Mapungubwe National Park is a national park in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. It forms part of the UNESCO Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, abutting on the border with Botswana and Zimbabwe. It contains the historical site of Mapungubwe Hill, which was the site of a community dating back to the Iron Age and the capital of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe. The Mapungubwe area became a focus of agricultural research in the 1920s through the efforts of the botanist Illtyd Buller Pole-Evans. Pole-Evans was instrumental in the creation of the Botanical Survey Advisory Committee, which was tasked with coordinating botanical research throughout the Union of South Africa.

Abridged background from Mapungubwe National Park, by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and shortened; this adapted background remains under the same licence. Retrieved 23 September 2026. Source revision.

Scaly-feathered weaver, Sporopipes squamifrons (also known as the scaly-feathered finch) at Mapungubwe National Park, Limpopo, South AfricaPhoto: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0

From inspiration to a practical plan

Plan your visit.

Physical demands: Open, hot terrain and rough park roads; heritage tours can involve walking and steps.
The consequential detail: Access to sensitive archaeological places may be guided or restricted; use the official park programme.

Add to my travel workbench Research access requirements

Through the seasons

A place in the world.

South Africa.

A place in the world

Select the pin to open a detailed map. Use Closer look to see the surrounding region. Drag to move a zoomed map.

Map: Natural Earth

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In pictures.

Look from Mapungubwe’s archaeological hill into the landscape of the former trading kingdom.

The Limpopo landscape at MapungubwePhoto: South African Tourism from South Africa, CC BY 2.0

An African elephant in MapungubwePhoto: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0

A stone game board on Mapungubwe HillPhoto: South African Tourism from South Africa, CC BY 2.0

A blue waxbill in Mapungubwe National ParkPhoto: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0

Open the complete gallery Discover the world in photographs

Follow the connection

Keep exploring.

Explore more places in the same country.

Read the landscape more closely

Cultural landscape

Useful links and further reading.

Choose a source for the job: official visitor information for access, the UNESCO record for the named property’s designation, and background or library resources for deeper reading.

Understand · UNESCO World Heritage Centre

UNESCO World Heritage property record

Read the named property’s significance, maps, components and conservation documents. The World Heritage boundary may cover only part of this guide’s wider destination.