The gross geographic product (GGP) of a particular area amounts to the total income or payment received by the production factors – (land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship) – for their participation in the production within that area. The area demarcations to indicate GGP for this map are magisterial districts, with figures for 1994 obtained from the Central Statistical Service in Pretoria.

The productive activity referred to above can be classified into three broad categories: primary, secondary and tertiary.

The primary category comprises the main sectors of agriculture, forestry and fishing, and mining.

The secondary category comprises manufacturing, electricity, gas and water, and the construction sectors.

The tertiary category comprises commerce; transport, storage and communication; financial and business services; general government; and community services.

The GGP is the yardstick by which economic activity for an area or region is measured.

It is interesting to note that there is no relationship between the surface area size of a province and its contribution to the total GGP for the country. This is illustrated by the extreme example of Gauteng, the surface area of which is a fraction of that of the Northern Cape, but whose share of the total GGP exceeds that of the Northern Cape 18 times!

A further point of interest is the fact that the manufacturing industry contributes the largest share of GGP in five of the nine provinces, namely in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. Mining is the biggest contributor in the Northern Cape, North West Province and the Free State, and the government sector is the biggest contributor in the Northern Province.