South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory.[10]
South Africa is known for diversity in cultures and languages. Eleven official languagesare recognized in the constitution.[9]
South Africa is ethnically diverse. About 79.5% of the South African population is of black African ancestry,[4] divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status. South Africa also contains the largest European, Indian, and racially mixed communities in Africa.
History
South Africa containssome of the oldest archaeological sites in the world.[13][14][15]
Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for more than 100,000 years. At the time of European contact, the dominant indigenous people were tribes who had migrated from other parts of Africa about one thousand years before.

Government and politics

The Union Buildings in Pretoria are the home of the South African executiveSouth Africa has three capital cities: Cape Town, the largest of the three, is the legislative capital; Pretoria is the administrative capital; and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. South Africa has a bicameral parliament: the National Council of Provinces (the upper house) has 90 members, while the National Assembly (the lower house) has 400 members.

The National Assembly building,located in Cape Town.

Durban City Hall

The Cape Town City Hall
In 1994, the "independent" and "semi-independent" Bantustans were integrated into the political structure of South Africa by the abolition of the four former provinces (Cape Province, Natal Province, Orange Free State and Transvaal Province) and the creation of nine fully integrated new provinces. The new provinces are:Province[36] | Capital[37] | Area (km²)[37] | Population (2007)[38] |
Eastern Cape | Bhisho | 169,580 | 6,527,747 |
Free State | Bloemfontein | 129,480 | 2,773,059 |
Gauteng | Johannesburg | 17,010 | 10,451,713 |
KwaZulu-Natal | Pietermaritzburg | 92,100 | 10,259,230 |
Limpopo | Polokwane | 123,900 | 5,238,286 |
Mpumalanga | Mbombela | 79,490 | 3,643,435 |
Northern Cape | Kimberley | 361,830 |1,058,060 |
North West | Mafikeng | 116,320 | 3,271,948 |
Western Cape | Cape Town | 129,370 | 5,278,585 |
Total | 1,219,080 | 48,502,063 |
| South African provinces |
Geography

Satellite picture of South Africa

The Drakensberg mountains, the highest mountain range in South Africa
South Africa is located at the southernmost region of Africa, with a long coastline and along twooceans (the South Atlantic and the Indian). South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world and is comparable in size to Colombia.
South Africa also has one possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island and Prince Edward Island
Climate
South Africa has a generally temperate climate, due in part to being surrounded by the Atlanticand Indian Oceans on three sides, by its location in the climatically milder southern hemisphere and due to the average elevation rising steadily towards the north (towards the equator) and further inland. Due to this varied topography and oceanic influence, a great variety of climatic zones exist.
Flora and fauna

Fynbos, a floral kingdom unique to South Africa, is found near Cape TownSwartberg mountains near the town of Oudtshoorn

A field of flowers in the West Coast National Park
South Africa is ranked sixth out of the world’s seventeen mega diverse countries,[50] with more than 20,000 different plants, or about 10% of all the known species of plants on Earth, making it particularly rich in plant biodiversity.
[edit] Economy

Table Mountain. Cape Town has become an...