South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa with a coastline along the South Atlantic and Indian oceans. It has a population of over 53 million people and is a multiethnic society with 11 official languages. While 80% of South Africans are black Africans divided among various ethnic groups, there are also large communities of white, Indian, and mixed-race people. South Africa has a history of racial tensions and the system of apartheid was instituted in 1948, though segregation existed earlier, and was not fully dismantled until 1990 after a long struggle. South Africa has a developing economy that is ranked as upper-middle income by the World Bank.
South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa with a coastline along the South Atlantic and Indian oceans. It has a population of over 53 million people and is a multiethnic society with 11 official languages. While 80% of South Africans are black Africans divided among various ethnic groups, there are also large communities of white, Indian, and mixed-race people. South Africa has a history of racial tensions and the system of apartheid was instituted in 1948, though segregation existed earlier, and was not fully dismantled until 1990 after a long struggle. South Africa has a developing economy that is ranked as upper-middle income by the World Bank.
South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa with a coastline along the South Atlantic and Indian oceans. It has a population of over 53 million people and is a multiethnic society with 11 official languages. While 80% of South Africans are black Africans divided among various ethnic groups, there are also large communities of white, Indian, and mixed-race people. South Africa has a history of racial tensions and the system of apartheid was instituted in 1948, though segregation existed earlier, and was not fully dismantled until 1990 after a long struggle. South Africa has a developing economy that is ranked as upper-middle income by the World Bank.
South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa with a coastline along the South Atlantic and Indian oceans. It has a population of over 53 million people and is a multiethnic society with 11 official languages. While 80% of South Africans are black Africans divided among various ethnic groups, there are also large communities of white, Indian, and mixed-race people. South Africa has a history of racial tensions and the system of apartheid was instituted in 1948, though segregation existed earlier, and was not fully dismantled until 1990 after a long struggle. South Africa has a developing economy that is ranked as upper-middle income by the World Bank.
This article is about the modern country. For other uses, see South Africa (disambiguation). Republic of South Africa[show]
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "!ke e: xarra ke" (Xam) "Unity in Diversity" Anthem: National anthem of South Africa
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Location of South Africa (dark blue) in Africa (light blue & dark grey) in the African Union (light blue) Capital Pretoria (executive) Bloemfontein (judicial) Cape Town (legislative) Largest city Johannesburg (2006) [2]
Official languages [Note 1]
11 languages[show] Ethnic groups ( [3]
[Note 2] ) 79.2% Black African 8.9% Coloured 8.9% White 2.5% Indian or Asian 0.5% other Demonym South African Government Constitutional parliamentary republic -
Lower house National Assembly Independence from the United Kingdom -
Union 31 May 1910 -
Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931 -
Republic 31 May 1961 Area -
Total 1,221,037 km 2 (25th) 471,443 sq mi -
Water (%) negligible Population -
2014 estimate 54,002,000 [4] (25th) -
2011 census 51,770,560 [3]:18
-
Density 42.4/km 2 (169th) 109.8/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2014 estimate -
Total $623.201 billion [5] (25th) -
Per capita $11,914 [5] (82nd) GDP (nominal) 2014 estimate -
Total $371.211 billion [5] (33rd) -
Per capita $7,096 [5] (83rd) Gini (2009) 63.1 [6]
very high HDI (2013) 0.658 [7]
medium 118th Currency South African rand (ZAR) Time zone SAST (UTC+2) Drives on the left Calling code +27 ISO 3166 code ZA Internet TLD .za Coordinates: 30S 25E South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian oceans. [8][9][10] To the north lie the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; and within it lies Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South African territory. [11] South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 53 million people, is the world's 25th-most populous nation. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution's recognition of 11 official languages, which is among the highest number of any country in the world. [10] Two of these languages are of European origin: English and Afrikaans, the latter originating from Dutch and serving as the first language of most white and coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it is only the fourth most-spoken first language. [10]
About 80 percent of South Africans are of black African ancestry, [3] divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status. [10] The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (white), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (coloured) ancestry. All ethnic and linguistic groups have political representation in the country's constitutional democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the "Rainbow Nation," a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later adopted by then-President Nelson Mandela as a metaphor to describe the country's newly developing multicultural diversity in the wake of segregationist apartheid ideology. [12]
The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'tat, and regular elections have been held for almost a century; however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. Racial strife between the white minority and the black majority has played a large part in the country's recent history and politics. Apartheid was instituted in 1948 by the National Party, though segregation existed prior to that date. Discriminatory laws began to be repealed or abolished in 1990 after a long and sometimes violent struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists. South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, and is considered to be a newly industrialised country. [13][14] Its economy is the second largest in Africa, and the 28th-largest in the world. [15] In terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa, although poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed and living on less than US$1.25 a day. [16][17]
Nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. [18][19]