South Africa

South Africa
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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: ǀxarra ǁke" (ǀXam)
"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
-

President Jacob Zuma
-

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa
-

Chairperson of the
NCOP
Thandi Modise
-

Speaker of the National
Assembly
Baleka Mbete
-

Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng
Legislature Parliament
-

Upper house National Council of Provinces
-

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: 30°S 25°E
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'état, 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]