Kruger National Park
national park in South Africa
Kruger National Park (Afrikaans: [ˈkry.(j)ər]) is a national park in South Africa covering an area of 19,623 km2 (7,576 sq mi) in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends 360 km (220 mi) from north to south and 65 km (40 mi) from east to west. The administrative headquarters are in Skukuza. Areas of the park were first protected by the government of the South African Republic in 1898, and it became South Africa's first national park in 1926. It is part of Kruger to Canyons Biosphere, an area designated as a biosphere reserve. It is within the South Africa Standard Time Zone (GMT+2).
The founder of Kruger National Park is considered to be President Paul Kruger. It is a major tourist attraction which in 2024 drew close to 2 million visitors.
History
Conservation Pre-Game Reserve (1867–1898)
A Game Commission was established in 1891 with J.M. Malan of Rustenburg as chairman, which resulted in the establishment of the game law of 1891. As early as 1867 individual farmers in the South African Republic started publishing notices in the Staatscourant which prohibited hunting as a measure to preserve game on their private land.
“Kruger National Park” enters the record as national park in South Africa. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kruger, National and Park can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Kruger National Park” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Kruger, National and Park provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24451. VIAF identifies the subject as 151887382. The Library of Congress control number is sh85073317. Authority coordinates are -24.011, 31.485. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1898, 1926, 2024 and 1867.
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How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Kruger National Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.