There are 11national languages. They areAfrikaans,English, Ndebele, Xhosa,Zulu, Swati, Setswana, Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa, Venda and Tsonga. They are also known as National Lexicography Units (NLUs). Because of all the languages, the country has anofficial name in each language.
One of South Africa's most well known people isNelson Mandela. He was itspresident from 1994 until 1999. He died in 2013 at the age of 95. The current president isCyril Ramaphosa.
The first European people to come to South Africa were Portuguese explorers. In 1487,Bartolomeu Dias found what he called the "Cape of Storms". Theking ofPortugal changed it to "Cape of Good Hope". He called it this because the cape gave the Portuguese a new chance to find a sea route toIndia.[11]
Diamonds were found in South Africa in 1867. Gold was found in 1884. This made a great number of people to come to South Africa from Europe. They were hoping to make money.
TheFirst Boer War happened in 1880-1881. The war was between the British and theBoers Republics. At that time, the British had the Cape. The Boer Republics were established when Dutch settlers moved north in theGreat Trek. The British lost the war and came back 8 years later in 1899. They won thisSecond Boer War in 1902. The British had brought many more soldiers the second time. The Boers had no chance of winning. On 31 May 1910 the Union of South Africa was made from the Cape and Natal colonies. It was also made fromOrange Free State and theTransvaal. These were two Boer Republics.
In 1961, South Africa became completely independent when the voters passeda referendum to become arepublic. Onlywhite people were allowed to vote in the referendum.[14] This republic ended apartheid in 1994.[13]
South Africa is at the south end of Africa. It has a long coastline that reaches more than2,500km (1,553mi) and alongtwo oceans (the SouthAtlantic and theIndian). At1,219,912km2 (471,011sqmi),[15] South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world and is almost the size ofColombia.Njesuthi in theDrakensberg at3,408m (11,181ft) is the highest part in South Africa.
The Drakensberg mountains, the highest mountain range in South Africa
The majority of South Africa is the CentralPlateau, bounded by the GreatEscarpment. Itsscrubland, the Karoo, is drier towards the northwest along theNamib desert. The eastern coastline however, is well-watered, which makes aclimate similar to thetropics.
To the north of Johannesburg, thealtitude drops beyond the escarpment of the Highveld. It then turns into the lower lying Bushveld, an area of mixed dry forest and a lot ofwildlife. East of the Highveld, beyond the eastern escarpment, the Lowveld reaches towards the Indian Ocean. It has mostly hightemperatures, and is also the location of subtropical agriculture.
South Africa has a mostlytemperate climate. It is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, and is located in the climatically mildersouthern hemisphere. Averageelevation is higher towards the north (towards theequator) and further inland. Because of thisvariedtopography and oceanic influence, different parts of South Africa have different climates.
There is adesert in the southern Namib in the farthest northwest andsubtropical climate in the east along theMozambique border and the Indian Ocean. From the east, the land quickly rises over mountains towards the backplateau known as the Highveld. Even though South Africa is thought as semi-arid, there is a difference in climate as well as topography.
The southwest has a climate similar to that of theMediterranean with mild, moderately wet winters and hot, dry summers. This area also makes much of the wine in South Africa. Thisregion is also mostly known for itswind, which blows almost all year. The wind can sometimes be severe when passing around theCape of Good Hope mostly gets bad for sailors, making many shipwrecks. Further east on the south coast, rainfall falls more evenly throughout the year, making a green landscape. This area is popularly known as theGarden Route.
TheOrange Free State is mostly flat, because it lies in the center of the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not get subtropical heat. Johannesburg, in the center of the Highveld, is at 1,740m (5,709ft) and gets a yearly rainfall of 740mm (29.9in). Winters in this region are cold, althoughsnow is rare.
South Africa is ranked sixth out of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries,[16] with more than 20,000 different kinds of plants, or about 10% of all the known species of plants on Earth, making it very rich in plantbiodiversity.
The most commonbiome in South Africa is the grassland, mostly on the Highveld. This is wheregrasses, low shrubs, and acacia trees, mostly camel-thorn and whitethorn are more common than other plants. Plants become less common towards the northwest. This is because of lowrainfall. There are many species of water-storing plants like aloes and euphorbias in the very hot and dry Namaqualand area. The grass and thornsavanna turns slowly into a bush savanna towards the north-east of the country, with more thick growth. There are many numbers ofbaobab trees in this area, near the northern end of Kruger National Park.[17]
South Africa's economy is divided. It is divided betweenFirst World andThird World standards. The developed part of the economy is similar to that of most nations with wealth (for example,Britain orAustralia). The rest of the economy is closer to that of poor nations, such as theDemocratic Republic of the Congo. The main companies in South Africa are mining (mostly for gold and diamonds),car making, andservice industries, such as insurance.
Unemployment is very high. Income inequality is about the same asBrazil. During 1995–2003, the number of older jobs went down.Informal jobs went up. Overall unemployment got worse.[18] Theaverage South African household income went down a lot between 1995 and 2000. As for racial inequality,Statistics South Africa said that in 1995 the average white household earned four times as much as the averageblack household. In 2000 the average white family was earning six times more than the average black household. The action policies have seen a rise in black economic wealth. There is a developing black middle class.[19][20] Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. South Africa suffers from mostly heavy overallregulation compared to developed countries.[21]Restrictive labor rules have added to the unemployment weakness.[18]
South Africa is a nation of about 50million people of diverseorigins, cultures,languages, and religions. The last census was held in 2001 and the next will be in 2011. Statistics South Africa had five racial categories by which people could classify themselves, the last of which, "unspecified/other" drew "not needed" responses, and these results were not counted.[22] The 2009 middle-yearestimated figures for the other categories were Black African at 79.3%, White at 9.1%,Coloured at 9.0%, andAsian at 2.6%.[23]
Even though the population of South Africa has grown in the past decade[22][24] (mostly because of immigration), the country had an yearly population growth rate of −0.501% in 2008 (CIA est.), counting immigration. The CIA thinks that in 2009 South Africa's population started to grow again, at a rate of 0.281%. South Africa is home to anestimated 5millionillegal immigrants, counting about 3million Zimbabweans.[25][26][27] Aseries of anti-immigrant riots happened in South Africa beginning on 11 May 2008.[28][29]
South Africa is divided into 9 provinces. The provinces are in turn divided into 52 districts: 8 metropolitan and 44 district municipalities. The district municipalities are further divided into 226 local municipalities.
Traditional South African cuisineDecorated houses, Drakensberg Mountains
It may be suggested that there is no single South African culture because of itsethnicdiversity. Today, the diversity in foods from many cultures is enjoyed by all and marketed to tourists who wish to taste South African food. Food is not the only thing, music and dance is there too.
South African food is mostly meat-based and hasspawned the South African social gathering known as abraai, orbarbecue. South Africa has also developed into a big wine maker. It has some of the bestvineyards lying invalleys around Stellenbosch, Franschoek, Paarl and Barrydale.
South Africa is the only country of Africa with a significant ethnic European population and influenceMost South African blacks still have poor lives. It is among these people, however, that cultural traditions live most strongly. This is because blacks have becomeurbanised andWesternised, much parts of traditional culture have fallen. Urban blacks normally speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their nativetongue. There are smaller but still important groups of speakers ofKhoisan languages who are not in the 11 officiallanguages, but are one of the eight other officially recognized languages.
Members of middle class, who are mostly white but whose ranks are growing numbers of black, colored and Indian people,[32] have lifestyles similar in many ways to that of people found inWestern Europe,North America andAustralasia. Members of the middle class often study and work from foreign countries for greater exposure to the markets of theworld.
Approximately 9,800 Roma gypsies live in South Africa.
According to the 2001 nationalcensus, Christians accounted for 79.7% of thepopulation. This has Zion Christian (11.1%),Pentecostal (Charismatic) (8.2%),Roman Catholic (7.1%),Methodist (6.8%), Dutch Reformed (6.7%),Anglican (3.8%); members of other Christian churches accounted for another 36% of the population.Muslims accounted for 1.5% of the population,Hinduism about 1.3%, andJudaism 0.2%. 15.1% had no religious affiliation, 2.3% were other and 1.4% were unspecified.[33][34]
Famous boxers from South Africa are Baby Jake Jacob Matlala, Vuyani Bungu, Welcome Ncita, Dingaan Thobela, Gerrie Coetzee and Brian Mitchell. There are football players who have played for majorforeign clubs. Some of them are Lucas Radebe and Philemon Masinga (both were ofLeeds United), Quinton Fortune (Atletico Madrid andManchester United), Benni McCarthy (Ajax Amsterdam,F.C. Porto andBlackburn Rovers), Aaron Mokoena (Ajax Amsterdam, Blackburn Rovers andPortsmouth), Delron Buckley (Borussia Dortmund) and Steven Pienaar (Ajax Amsterdam andEverton). South Africa madeFormula One motor racing's 1979 world championJody Scheckter. Famous current cricket players are Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy and more. Most of them also participate in theIndian Premier League.
South Africa has also made many world class rugby players. Some of them are Francois Pienaar, Joost van der Westhuizen, Danie Craven, Frik du Preez, Naas Botha, and Bryan Habana. South Africa hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup at their first try. They won the 2007 Rugby World Cup inFrance. South Africa was only allowed toparticipate from 1995 since the end ofApartheid. It followed the 1995 Rugby World Cup by hosting the 1996 African Cup of Nations. It had thenational team, 'Bafana Bafana,' going on to win thetournament. It also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup. and the 2007 World Twenty20 Championship. Both of them were a great success.
In 2010, South Africa became the first Africannation to host theFIFA World Cup. Thenational team has competed in three World Cups. It bid for the right to stage the2004 Olympic Games, but finished third toAthens. South Africa is also well known for theircricket team. They are right now the world's number one in test match cricket.
The main schools span the first seven years of schooling. In the age ofApartheid, schools for blacks were subject to judgment. They often did not get enough funding because of their skin color, and other unfair treatment.[verification needed] Instruction can take place inAfrikaans as well. Public payment on education was at 5.4% of the 2002-05 GDP.[35]
↑"Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd". South African History Online.Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved9 March 2013.On 5 October 1960 a referendum was held in which White voters were asked: "Do you support a republic for the Union?" – 52 percent voted 'Yes'.
↑For a discussion of Church membership statistics in South Africa please refer to Forster, D. "God's mission in our context, healing and transforming responses" in Forster, D and Bentley, W.Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission. Kempton Park. AcadSA publishers (2008:97-98)
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