The Republic of South Africa, also known by other official names There are eleven official names of South Africa, one in each of its eleven official languages. The number is surpassed only by India. These languages include English, Afrikaans, the Nguni languages Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, and Swazi, as well as the Sotho languages, which include Tswana, Sotho and Sotho sa Leboa. The remaining two languages are Venda, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the World's human population. The South African coast stretches 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi)^[5][6] and borders both the Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The oldest known mention of this name and Indian The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean (or, traditionally, by Antarctica). One component of the all- oceans An ocean (from Greek Ωκεανός, Okeanos ) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than.^[7] To the north of South Africa lie Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990 following the Namibian War of, Botswana The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" (singular: Motswana), regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It is bordered by South and Zimbabwe Zimbabwe , (officially the Republic of Zimbabwe and formerly Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia) is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and, to the east are Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest. It was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonized by Portugal in 1505. By 1510, the and Swaziland The Kingdom of Swaziland , sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique. The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II, while the Kingdom of Lesotho Lesotho (pronounced /lɨˈsuːtuː/ lə-SOE-toe), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave — entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Its size is just over 30,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 1,800,000. Its capital is Maseru. It is the southernmost landlocked country in the world. It is a is an independent enclave In political geography, an enclave is a territory whose geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of another territory surrounded by South African territory.^[8]

Modern human beings have inhabited Southern Africa for more than 100,000 years.^[9] At the time of European contact, its indigenous peoples reflected migrations from other parts of Africa, where new tribes had become dominant. Two major groups were Xhosa The Xhosa (pronounced [ǁʰɔsɑ] )) people are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country and Zulu The Zulu are the largest South African ethnic group of an estimated 10-11 million people who live mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Small numbers also live in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique. Their language, Zulu, is a Bantu language; more specifically, part of the Nguni subgroup. The Zulu Kingdom played a major role in South peoples.

In 1652, a century and a half after the discovery of the Cape Sea Route Bartolomeu Dias , a nobleman of the Portuguese royal household, was a Portuguese explorer who sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, the first European known to have done so, although some historians credit Herodotus's account of a Phoenician expedition that achieved the feat under the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II (610 –, the Dutch East India Company The Dutch East India Company was a trading company, which was established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, founded The written history of Cape Colony South Africa began when Bartolomeu Dias, a Portuguese navigator, discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. In 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed along the whole coast of South Africa on his way to India. The Portuguese, attracted by the riches of Asia, made no permanent settlement at the Cape Colony. However, the Dutch a refreshment station at what would become Cape Town Cape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the City of Cape Town. It is the provincial capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many government offices are situated. Cape Town is famous for its harbour as well.^[10] Cape Town became a British colony in 1806. European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers Boer is the Dutch word for farmer which came to denote the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking pastoralists of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State, Transvaal (together known as the Boer Republics) and to a (original Dutch Catholicism, Protestantism , Nontheism, Flemish The Flemish people , the Flemings or the Flemish (de Vlamingen) are the over six million people of Flanders, the northern region of the country Belgium — and the majority of all Belgians, German The German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship (Federal Germans, Bundesdeutsche), distinguished from people of German ancestry (Deutschstämmige). Historically, in the context of the German and French To be French, according to the first article of the Constitution, is to be a citizen of France, regardless of one's origin, race, or religion According to its principles, France has devoted herself the destiny of a proposition nation, a generic territory where people are bounded only by the French language and the assumed willingness to live settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups or parties of white, British colonists settled by the British government and the Cape authorities in the South African Eastern Cape in 1820 claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose among the Xhosa The Xhosa (pronounced [ǁʰɔsɑ] )) people are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country, Zulu The Zulu are the largest South African ethnic group of an estimated 10-11 million people who live mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Small numbers also live in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique. Their language, Zulu, is a Bantu language; more specifically, part of the Nguni subgroup. The Zulu Kingdom played a major role in South and Afrikaner Afrikaners are Afrikaans-speaking people who have been established in Southern Africa since the 17th century and are mainly of northwestern European descent. Afrikaner is a noun , Afrikaans the adjective (i.e., an Afrikaans person or an Afrikaner) groups who competed for territory.

The discovery of diamonds and later gold triggered the conflict known as the Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War , commonly referred to as The Boer War and also known as the South African War (outside of South Africa), the Anglo-Boer War (among most South Africans) and in Afrikaans as the Anglo-Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog ("Second War of Liberation"), or the Engelse oorlog (English War)[citation needed] was fought from 1, as the Boers and the British fought for the control of the South African mineral wealth. Although the Boers were defeated, the British gave limited independence to South Africa in 1910 as a British dominion. Within the country, anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation were enacted to control the settlement and movement of native people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws.^[11][12][13] Power was held by the colonists. In the Boer republics,^[14] from as early as the Pretoria Convention (chapter XXVI),^[15] and subsequent South African governments, the system became legally institutionalised segregation Racial segregation is the separation of different racial groups in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home. Segregation may be mandated by law or exist through social norms. Segregation may be maintained by means, later known as apartheid Apartheid—meaning separateness in Afrikaans —was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and 1994, which established three classes of racial stratification. South Africa achieved its political independence in 1961 when it was declared a republic A republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "public affairs". The government legislated for a continuation of apartheid, despite opposition both in and outside of the country. In 1990, South African government began negotiations that led to dismantling of discriminative laws, and democratic elections in 1994 The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission. The country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly parts of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values and goals, as outlined in the Singapore Declaration. These include the promotion of democracy,.

South Africa is known for its diversity in cultures, languages, and religious beliefs. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution.^[7] English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life; however, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language.^[7] South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest Caucasian White South Africans is a term which refers to people from South Africa who are of Caucasian descent. In linguistic, cultural and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Dutch settlers Afrikaners and the English-speaking Anglo-Africans who share an Anglophone background, Indian The majority of the Asian South African population is Indian in origin, most of them descended from indentured workers transported to work in the 19th century on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area, then known as Natal. They are largely English speaking, although many also retain the languages of their ancestors. There is also a, and racially mixed In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers or referred to an ethnic group of mixed-race people who possess some sub-Saharan African ancestry, but not enough to be considered Black under the law of South Africa. They are technically mixed race and often possess substantial ancestry from Europe, communities in Africa. Although 79.6% of the South African population is Black The term black people usually refers to a racial group of humans with a light brown to a black skin color and born with Afro textured hair, but it has also been used to categorize a number of diverse populations into one common group. Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub Saharan African descent . Among the,^[2] this category is neither culturally nor linguistically homogeneous. People within this classification represent a variety of ethnic groups and speak a number of different Bantu languages The Bantu languages constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo family. This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree. By one estimate, there are 513 languages in the Bantu grouping, 681 languages in Bantoid, and 1,514 in Niger-Congo. Bantu languages are, nine of which have official status.^[7] Midyear 2007, the South African population was estimated at 47.9 million.^[2] About a quarter of the population is unemployed^[16] and lives on less than US$ 1.25 a day. ^[17]

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