The southern tip of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. In terms of land, it's the 25th largest country in the world and slightly less than twice the size of Texas. Has nearly 2,800 kilometers of coastline, and is 2,500 miles away from Antarctica in its position as the southernmost country on the continent. The country of Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa.
Capital:
The executive capital is Pretoria, the judicial capital is Bloemfontein, and the legislative capital is Cape Town. Cape Town is the largest of the three capitals. The largest city in the country, however, is Johannesburg.
National symbols:
The current flag was adopted in 1994 as a symbol of the new democracy launched in the general elections. Three of the colors are also used in the African National Congress flag, and three others are found in the Dutch and British flags.
Language:
The wide array of languages reflects the diverse ethnic groups that come together in South Africa. The breakdown, according to the CIA World Factbook, is: IsiZulu 23.8 percent, IsiXhosa 17.6 percent, Afrikaans (originating from the Dutch settlers) 13.3 percent, Sepedi (related to the Sotho language) 9.4 percent, English 8.2 percent, Setswana (prevalent in Botswana) 8.2, Sesotho 7.9 percent, Xitsonga (concentrated up near the Mozambique border) 4.4 percent, other 7.2 percent. The 11 official languages are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
Population:
Nearly 50 million people. However, the life expectancy at birth is just over 48 years old, and the country has the fourth largest rate of HIV infection in the world and leads the world in HIV/AIDS deaths, with more than 18 percent of the population estimated to be infected. Nearly 80 percent of the population is black African, with nearly 10 percent white. About 86 percent of the population can read and write. Faith is mostly a variety of Christian denominations.
History:
The tip of South Africa was a valuable strategic point for traders, drawing Dutch settlers (Boers) in 1652 to found the city of Cape Town. The British annexed the Cape of Good Hope -- named so by the first Europeans to land there, the Portuguese -- area in 1806, driving the Dutch further inland to found the Boer Republics and stoking fights between the European settlers and between the settlers and indigenous tribes. Diamond and gold discoveries in the 19th century just intensified the strife. Racial segregation continued through independence in 1961, and didn't hold its first multi-racial elections until 1994.
Economy:
Poverty remains a problem from the apartheid era (more than a quarter of the population receives government assistance and about half live below the poverty line), though the country ranks 25th in the world in GDP and is a solidly middle-income nation with well-developed financial and industrial sectors. The unemployment rate is high: about 24 percent in 2009. The country's biggest trading partners are Germany and China (imports) and Japan and the U.S. (exports). South Africa is the world's largest producer of platinum, gold and chromium.
Military:
The South African National Defence Force was created in 1994 after apartheid, and includes branches for the army, air force, navy and South African Military Health Service. The headquarters is in Pretoria. Service is voluntary, begins at age 18 and is for a minimum 2-year commitment. About 12 million men and 12 million women are available for military service.
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