19th Century illustration of diamond mining in South Africa. The 1867 discovery of diamonds in the Cape Colony radically modified the world’s supply of diamonds. The annual world diamond production increased more than tenfold in the following 10 years, a once extremely rare material became accessible to Western society with its growing wealth. In the 1870′s and 1880′s, South Africa produced 95% of the world’s diamonds, was home to great wealth.

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"Century Geographical Readers"

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Size: 4630px × 3071px
Location: South Africa
Photo credit: © De Luan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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