South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA

• Key facts:

Official name: Republic of South Africa.

Form of state: A federal state, comprising a national government and nine provincial governments.

Population: (Census 2011): 51.77-million.

Currency: rand (R).

• Capitals:

Pretoria (administrative).

Cape Town (legislative).

Bloemfontein (judicial).

• Provinces:

Eastern Cape

Gauteng

KwaZulu-Natal

Mpumulanga

Northern Cape

Limpopo

North West

Free State

Western Cape

• Economy-Key industries:

Mining (world's largest producer of platinum, chromium), automobile assembly, metal- working, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilisers, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair.

Geography

South Africa is the southernmost country on the African continent. It shares borders with Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in the North, and Mozambique in the East. The Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet off the Southern Cape coast. There is a high plateau in the interior of the country. The Kalahari Desert in the north is part of the ‘Highveld’ which is the portion of the South African inland plateau, the highlands of the country. South Africa has various mountain ranges and grasslands. Most of the bigger cities such as Cape Town, Durban or Port Elizabeth, are located near the coast in low-lying areas. The longest river in South Africa is the Orange River which forms also part of the border between Namibia from South Africa.

In the mountain ranges of the Drakensberg region, there is snow in winter. Sometimes also the higher mountain tops in the Western Cape near Cape Town receive some snow in winter.

South Africa is divided into three major geographic regions. The first is the African Plateau in the country's interior. It forms a portion of the Kalahari Basin and is semiarid and sparsely populated. he second region is the Great Escarpment. Its terrain varies but its highest peaks are in the Drakensberg Mountains along the border with Lesotho. The third region is the narrow, fertile valleys along the coastal plains.

South Africa is famous for its biodiversity. South Africa currently has eight wildlife reserves. Parks that are home to lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants and hippopotamus.

Climate

South Africa enjoys a temperate and pleasant climate, with lovely warm sunny days most of the year. The climate of South Africa is mostly semiarid; but, its eastern coast regions are subtropical with mainly sunny days and cool nights. South Africa's west coast is arid because the cold ocean current Benguela, removes moisture from the region which has formed the Namib Desert that extends into Namibia. Winters are generally mild and dry. South Africa enjoys one of the world's highest average daily hours of sunshine.

Language

There are 11 officially recognized languages, most of them indigenous to South Africa. English is one of these, and everywhere you go, you can expect to find people who speak and understand it. English is the language of the cities, of commerce and banking, of government and official documents. Road signs and official forms are in English. The President makes his speeches in English and at any hotel; the service staff will speak English.

Ethnic groups in South Africa.

The racial groups in South Africa have a variety of origins. Statistics South Africa asks people to describe themselves in the census in terms of five racial population groups.

Statistics South Africa provided five racial categories by which people could classify themselves:

BLACK: By far the major part of the population classified itself as African or black, but it is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous.

WHITES: White South Africans are descendants of Dutch, German, French,English and other European and Jewishsettlers.Culturally and linguistically, they are divided into the Afrikaners, who speak Afrikaans, and English-speaking groups. The white population has been on the decrease due to a low birth rate and emigration; as a factor in their decision to emigrate, many cite the high crime rate and the affirmative action policies of the government. Despite high emigration levels, high levels of non-South African white immigrants have settled in the country, in particular from countries such as Britain and Zimbabwe. COLOUREDS. The Coloured population is mainly concentrated in the Cape region, and come from a combination of ethnic backgrounds. The term "coloured" is still used for the people of mixed race descended from slaves brought in from East and Central Africa. The majority speak Afrikaans.

ASIANS/INDIANS: The major part of the South African Asian AND INDIAN population

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