De Aar is also a primary commercial distribution centre for a large area of the central Great Karoo.

[2] In 1899 two brothers who ran a trading store and hotel at the junction, Isaac and Wulf Friedlander, purchased the farm of De Aar.

The South African Defence Force's 97 Ammunition Depot is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) outside of De Aar.

[3] De Aar has a semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) with hot summers and cool winters.

Every evening the birds fill the sky above town and land in the big trees near the hospital just as the sun sets to spend the night.

[9] The arms were now : Or, a merino ram's head caboshed proper, a base barry wavy of four Azure and Argent; on a chief Argent a locomotive Sable (i.e. a golden shield displaying, from top to bottom, a black locomotive on a silver background, a ram's head on a golden background, and four wavy stripes alternately blue and silver).

[10] The arms were : Azure, a pale Argent; on a Chief Gules, a ram's head caboshed Argent, between two wheels Or (i.e. a blue shield with a silver stripe down the middle and, across the top, a red stripe displaying a ram's head between two golden wheels).