South Africa

South Africa or, in minority usage, South Africa (officially the Republic of South Africa), is a sovereign country, a member of the African Union, located in southern Africa and whose form of government is the modified parliamentary republic. Its territory is organized into nine provinces. Its capital status has a special status, as it is made up of three cities: Pretoria, seat of executive power; Bloemfontein, seat of the judiciary; and Cape Town, seat of the legislative branch. Likewise, the most populated city in the country is Johannesburg, which is also one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world.

It has 2,798 kilometers of coastline in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It is bordered to the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east by Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is a country surrounded by South African territory.

South Africa is known for its diversity of cultures, languages and religious beliefs, which is why it is known as the rainbow nation. Eleven languages are recognized as official by the South African Constitution. Two of the eleven languages are of European origin: Afrikaans, a language that comes directly from Dutch and is spoken by the majority of the white and mixed-race population, and English. Although English plays an important role in public and business life, it is nevertheless the fifth language by native speakers.

South Africa is an ethnically diverse country. 79.5% of the South African population is black, which is divided into different ethnic groups that speak different Bantu languages, nine of which are official. It also has the largest communities of inhabitants of European and Indian origin, as well as multiracial communities on the continent.

South Africa is one of the founding members of the African Union, and has the continent's largest economy among all members. It is also a founding member of the UN and NEPAD. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Antarctic Treaty, the G77, the ZPCSA, the SACU, the WTO, the IMF, the G20, the G8+5, the CIVETS, the BRICS, among others.

South Africa is also a country where there are great inequalities between different social groups; while there are great fortunes and the capitals are among the main centers of business in Africa, approximately a quarter of the South African population is unemployed and lives on less than US$1.25 a day. The richest 1% of the population owns 70.9% of the country's total wealth, while the 60% with fewer resources concentrate only 7%.

It has a rich fauna and flora, which is why it is on the list of megadiverse countries.

History

Prehistory and pre-colonial period

South Africa has some of the oldest paleoanthropological sites in Africa, millions of years ago, it was inhabited by groups of Australopithecus africanus that survived by gathering roots, nuts and vegetables, shellfish, hunting and fishing They were succeeded by several species of Homo, including Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, and modern man (Homo sapiens). The Bushmen from 100,000 years ago and later the current Hottentots, were the first human groups to settle. During the Iron Age and up to the present day, human groups of black ethnicity spread throughout the territory.

Mapungubwe Hill, location of the capital of the ancient kingdom of Mapungubwe (1075-1220).

Bantu farmers and herders settled in the s. IV and V south of the Limpopo River. They later moved further south to what is now KwaZulu-Natal province, where the oldest foundry is located, dating back to 1050. In the historic period, the Xhosa ethnic group settled even further south, reaching the Fish River in what is now the Eastern Cape Province. These more advanced populations displaced the native hunter-gatherer settlers.

At the time of the arrival of the Europeans, the indigenous population was the result of immigration from other parts of Africa, including the Xhosa and Zulu peoples. Although Europeans had been sailing close to the South African coast since the late 15th century, it was not until 1652 that the Dutch East India Company established a small settlement that would become Cape Town. The city became a British colony in 1806, causing the Boers (settlers from the Netherlands, Flanders, France and Germany) and British settlers to move north and east into the territory, triggering a series of of conflicts between the Afrikaners, the Xhosa and the Zulu over possession of the land.

The discovery of diamond deposits and gold mines led to the conflict known as the Second Boer War, which pitted the British against the Boers for control of the country's mineral resources. Although the Boers were the losers of the war, the United Kingdom in 1910 granted limited independence to South Africa as a British colony. Inside the country, the white anti-British elite carried out a series of policies with the intention of achieving full independence. Racial segregation was gaining strength and permeating South African legislation, establishing the regime that would later be known as apartheid, which established three classes of racial stratification.

The country finally achieved independence in 1961, when it was declared the Republic of South Africa. The government continued to legislate under the apartheid regime, despite internal and external opposition. In 1990, the South African government began a series of negotiations that ended with discriminatory laws and with the calling of the first democratic elections in 1994. Following the elections, the country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations.

European colonization

First European expeditions

The written history of South Africa begins with the arrival of the Portuguese. In 1487 Bartolomé Díaz was the first European to reach the southernmost point of Africa, and named it Cabo das Tormentas (Cape of Storms) due to the bad weather he experienced in the region. However, when he returned to Lisbon loaded with news about the discovery, King John II of Portugal wanted to change the name to Cabo da Boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope) and promised to establish from that point a maritime route so that the Portuguese could go to look for the riches of India. Later, the great Portuguese poet Luís de Camões immortalized the voyage of Bartolomé Díaz in the epic poem Os Lusíadas, specifically with the mythological character Adamastor, who symbolizes the forces of nature that the Portuguese navigators had to overcome during the circumnavigation of the capes..

The earliest written accounts of South African history were obtained from early seafarers and surviving shipwrecked men. During the two centuries after 1488, the Portuguese sailors made some small fishing agreements on this coast, but no written document survives about these.

Dutch colonization (17th and 18th centuries)

Jan van Riebeeck disembarkation in 1652, the first European to settle in the territory of the current South Africa.

On April 6, 1652, Jan van Riebeeck established a provisioning post at the Cape of Good Hope for the Dutch East India Company on the African continent, to supply the ships with food, water, and care for the sick sailors.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the small colony expanded slowly, primarily under Dutch sovereignty. The settlers eventually encountered the expanding Xhosa peoples in the Fish River region. It is then that a series of wars called the Cape Border Wars broke out, originating from conflicts over land and food. To alleviate the labor shortage in the Cape, slaves were brought in from Indonesia, Madagascar, and India. The descendants of these slaves, who often intermarried with Dutch settlers, were later classified along with the descendants of the San as Cape Mongrels and Cape Malays, constituting almost half the population of the Western Cape province.^{[citation needed]}

Gradually, the Dutch overcame the Khoikhoi, taking their streams, land, and livestock. They incorporated the natives as farm labor or members of the militias. The political structure of the Khoikhoi was not strong enough to resist. The slave had no legal rights and, unlike slaves in the Americas, very little chance of achieving freedom through conversion to Christianity. The Company was in such need of labor that in the first decade of settlement it brought in slaves from its eastern empire and from regions on both sides of Africa.

In the Cape, the mandatory release of Christian converts served as an impediment to conversion to Christianity and made conversion to Islam more attractive for not only religious but also political reasons. The slaves of the Company or the residents of the towns had some possibility of practicing trades. Farmers' slaves were under tighter control. The slaves did not have the option of marriage, but concubinage with white men was frequent.

The Cape became a society divided into clearly defined groups unequal before the law, and free blacks were never numerous or organized enough to break down the barriers. Company employees and white farmers established a dominance upheld by law and reinforced by free immigration. The whites would maintain their predominance for more than three and a half centuries, despite various attempts at emancipation.

British colonization (19th and 20th centuries)

Great Britain occupied the area of the Cape of Good Hope in 1795 during the War of the First Coalition. The Dutch declared the bankruptcy of the Dutch East India Company in 1798. By the Treaty of Amiens (1802) the colony was returned to the Batavian Republic and the British annexed the Cape Colony in January 1806, a conquest legalized by the Congress of Vienna. The British continued their wars against the Amaxhosa, pushing the eastern frontier to the east, following a line of forts established along the Fish River, and consolidating it by promoting new British settlements. Due to pressure from Britain's abolitionist societies, the British Parliament first stopped its slave trade in 1806, then finally abolished slavery in all its colonies in 1833.

British defeat before the Zulu Kingdom in the battle of Isandhlwana (1879), the first clash of the Anglo-zulu War. Charles Edwin Fripp Oil, 1885.

The discoveries of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886 encouraged the growth of the economy and immigration, which intensified the subjugation of the natives. The Boers successfully resisted a siege by the British in the First Boer War (1880-1881), based on tactics that made best use of local conditions. For example, the British wore bright red uniforms, making them easier targets for Boer marksmen.^{[citation needed]} During the Second Boer War (1899-1902) the British returned with larger troops. The Boer attempt to ally with the Germans in South West Africa was another reason for controlling the Boer republics. The Boers resisted fiercely, but the British eventually defeated the Boer forces thanks to their superior numbers and external supply of equipment, as well as the controversial scorched-earth tactic. The Vereeniging Treaty declared British sovereignty over all of the South African republics, and the British government agreed to assume the £3 million debt of the Afrikaner governments.^{[citation needed]} One of the main provisions of the treaty was that blacks would not be allowed to vote except in the Cape Colony.^{[citation needed]}

After four years, the Union of South Africa was created from the Cape Colony, the Natal Colony, and the Orange Free State and Transvaal republics (the latter two annexed after the Boer War in the Orange River and Transvaal Colony), on May 31, 1910, just ten years after the end of the Second Boer War. In 1934, the South African party and the national parties merged to form the unified party, which sought reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking whites, but split in 1939 following the decision on the country's entry into World War II. as an ally of the United Kingdom.

Apartheid (1948-1992)

Signature on a beach in Durban (1989). The text says: "According to section 37 of the Durban Law Code, this beach is for the exclusive use of white people. »

The more conservative wing of the National Party was sympathetic to Nazi Germany during the war, and sought greater racial segregation or apartheid after the war. In 1948, the National Party came to power. Advocating a segregationist and racist system, he started apartheid, a word that means 'separation' in Afrikaans. A vast legal and social system was created to separate the white and black ethnic groups, with an advantage for the first, which was granted political, economic and social privileges:

• Right to vote, reserved only for whites,
• Only white people could travel freely throughout the country,
• It was legal for a white man to gain more than a black man for the same job,
• Black people had to live in areas away from whites,
• Blacks had to study in schools separated from whites, and their education had to be limited, etc.

In 1960, after the Sharpeville massacre, Verwoerd held a referendum asking the white population to vote for or against union with the United Kingdom. 52% voted against. South Africa gained independence from the United Kingdom, but remained a member of the Commonwealth. His tenure in this organization became increasingly difficult, as African and Asian states, outraged by apartheid, intensified their pressure to expel South Africa, which finally withdrew from the Commonwealth on May 31, 1961, the date on which it left. declared the Republic of South Africa.

Over the years, apartheid sparked repudiation, rejection and outrage around the world. Numerous countries severed diplomatic and trade relations with South Africa, creating increasing isolation from the South African government. The country was excluded from the Olympic Games, the Soccer World Cup, Miss Universe, Miss World, the Rugby World Cup and other sports competitions. Within South Africa, anti-apartheid movements, especially the African National Congress or ANC, launched resistance campaigns, strikes, marches, protests and sabotage that were harshly repressed by government forces.

In 1989 the unpopular president Pieter Botha resigned after suffering a minor stroke, being succeeded by the more moderate Frederik De Klerk, who initiated the dismantling of apartheid. The ban on the African National Congress and other left-wing political organizations was lifted, and Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison. Apartheid legislation was gradually withdrawn. In a 1993 referendum, whites agreed to enfranchise the majority black, and the following year, in 1994, the country's first democratic elections were held. Nelson Mandela was elected president by an absolute majority representing the ANC, a party that has remained in power ever since. The international isolation that weighed on the country came to an end; It was readmitted to the Commonwealth of Nations (Commonwealth) in the same year of 1994.

Mandela became a symbol of the fight against apartheid inside and outside the country and a legendary figure who represented the lack of freedom of all the black inhabitants of South Africa.

A shop for "non-whites" in the South African town of Kliptown in 1979.

Installment of the new regime (since 1992)

Frederik de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shake hands in 1992. The collaboration of both enabled the creation of the first multi-racial democracy in South Africa, thanks to which they received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

The democratic transition was facilitated by a unique process of reconciliation and Ubuntu: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa), chaired by the Nobel Peace Prize (1984) Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, was created in 1995 and closed its report in 1998. The Commission examined serious crimes against Human Rights committed by all parties under Apartheid, and could grant amnesty to criminals ("perpetrators").

Despite the end of apartheid, millions of black South Africans continue to live in poverty today, partly because of problems inherited from the apartheid regime and partly because post-apartheid governments have had their hands tied in the past. economic issues, which during the transition were managed almost exclusively by members of the outgoing government. In this way the whites lose political control but make sure they maintain their economic privileges. However, the housing policy carried out by the CNA has produced some improvement in living conditions in many regions, although the inequality between the different social classes is still very large, compared to the standards of other countries.

Although the economy is more diversified, the export of gold and diamonds remains the country's most important source of income. Currently the South African government is also committed to carrying out a vast land reform to alleviate social tension and racial inequalities. This reform consists of the return of land by whites to blacks, from whom they were seized in colonial times (nearly 80% of arable land is still in the hands of whites^{[citation required]}). The reform is progressing slowly: less than 10% of the land has been returned^{[citation needed]}, so the government of the country has decided to force the whites to sell land for a reasonable price or expropriate it in a short period. But there is in some sectors of society, too, a great fear that black impatience for land will lead to disorderly and chaotic reform, which could repeat the disastrous land reform in neighboring Zimbabwe, which ruined the agriculture and caused a terrible famine in that country.

The future of South Africa seems uncertain. The alarming wave of crime (50,000 homicides per year, proportionally, 8 times more than in the US) and the new legislation created by the ANC, which prohibits whites from holding numerous jobs, now reserved for blacks, they are pushing thousands of whites to leave the country. Today it remains one of the countries with the highest rates of inequality in the world. Since the end of Apartheid in 1994 to the present, almost a million whites have emigrated. High crime rates and the growing feeling that the ANC has failed to govern the state well, only aggravate uncertainty.

Jacob Zuma, current leader of the ANC, a politician who was accused of corruption and rape, both of which were dropped), has been President of South Africa since May 9, 2009, when he was elected by the National Assembly after he his party obtained 70% of the votes in the elections until February 2018, when Zuma had to resign amid various corruption scandals.

On August 16, 2012, the Marikana massacre took place, which consisted of a protest for better working conditions by the workers of the Lonmin Platinum company, and because of this, the miners were killed by a group of police armed with automatic rifles and machine guns. Thirty-four mine workers perished in the incident, the worst massacre since the end of Apartheid.

On December 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela passed away. The following year marked the 20th anniversary of the end of Apartheid, which with around 20 million South Africans (40% of the population) born free, formed the first generation to grow up without memories of Apartheid.

Government and politics

Pretoria is the executive capital.

Bloemfontein is the judicial capital.

Cape Town is the legislative capital.

The government of South Africa operates under a modified parliamentary system modeled on the British Westminster system, though markedly different from other systems in Commonwealth countries.

The National Council of Provinces (NCoP), which replaced the Senate in 1997, is made up of 90 members representing each of South Africa's nine provinces, while large cities also have representation. Each province in South Africa has a Unicameral Provincial Legislature, and an Executive Council headed by a Premier.

Security and politics

After the end of apartheid the country was readmitted into the Commonwealth of Nations, South Africa's foreign relations have focused on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union. South Africa has played a key role as a mediator in internal African conflicts over the past decade, in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros and Zimbabwe.

The Union of South Africa, the forerunner of the current Republic, was one of the founding members of the United Nations. Then-Prime Minister Jan Smuts wrote the preamble to the United Nations Charter. South Africa was a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council from 2007 to 2008, causing controversy over its action in voting against the resolution that criticized the Burmese government in 2006 and against the approval of sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2008. South Africa is a member of the Group of 77, being the country president in 2006. Likewise, South Africa is a member of the Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone South, the Southern African Customs Union, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the G20 and the G8+5.

South African attack helicopter Denel AH-2 Rooivalk.

The South African National Defense Force was created in 1994, as a volunteer force made up of former members of the South African Defense Force, the forces of nationalist groups (Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Azanian People's Liberation Army), and the former Bantustan defense forces. The SANDF is divided into four areas: the South African Army, the South African Air Force, the South African Navy, and the South African Military Health Service.

In recent years, the SANDF has carried out mostly peacekeeping operations in Africa, becoming involved in Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, among others. In addition, it has taken part in multinational operations by UN peacekeepers.

On the other hand, apartheid South Africa had a nuclear weapons development program in the 1970s and was able to carry out nuclear tests in the Atlantic Ocean in 1979 (see Vela Incident). South Africa is the only African country to have successfully developed nuclear weapons. Likewise, it was the first country with nuclear capacity that voluntarily gave up its program and dismantled its nuclear facilities, after signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1991.

Laws

South African Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.

South Africa is a republic with a democratic system of government, which is committed to achieving equality between men, women and people of all races. The constitution is the supreme law of the land, applicable to all state bodies at all levels of government. There is a separation between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, which maintains a balance of power between them.

The main sources of South African law were Romano-Dutch trade laws, along with English Common Law, brought over by Dutch and British colonists. The first South African law based on European principles was brought by the Dutch East India Company and was called Romano-Dutch law. It was imported before the codification of European law under the Napoleonic Code and is comparable in many respects to Scottish law. This was followed in the 19th century by British common and statutory law. Beginning in 1910 with unification, South Africa had its own parliament, which legislated specifically for South Africa, based on laws previously passed by individual members of the colonies.

Post-apartheid South Africa is the most advanced country in Africa in terms of its policy on the rights of the homosexual community. On November 30, 2006, South Africa became the first country on the continent to legalize same-sex marriage, amid protests by Christian Democrat groups.

Division of powers

Executive branch

Cyril Ramaphosa, current South African president.

The President is the head of state, head of government and head of South Africa's defense force. This is elected by the bicameral parliament, which consists of the National Assembly, or lower house, and the National Council of Provinces, or upper house. In practice, the president is the leader of the majority party, the National Assembly, which has 400 parliamentarians elected through a proportional electoral system. It is in charge of leading the country in the interests of national unity in accordance with the Constitution and has the following powers: Grant distinctions, appoint, accredit, receive and recognize ambassadors, diplomatic representatives and other consular officials, grant pardon or suspend execution of a penalty, sign, ratify international conventions and treaties, annul or proclaim martial law, as well as declare war or sign peace and name his cabinet to perform the functions granted by law.

Legislative authority

The parliament is the legislative authority of South Africa, it has the power to make laws for the country according to the Constitution, composed of a National Assembly and a Senate. The Senate is made up of ten members for each one of the provinces, each legislator nominates senators proportionally to the support of the party in the province and meets at least once a year, the first one thirty days after the day of the vote. the elections. Parliament will be in office for five years from its first session.

Judiciary

The judiciary enjoys autonomy and independence from the government. At the head of this power is the Supreme Court of Justice, made up of the appellate division.

Territorial organization

When apartheid ended in 1994, the government integrated the formerly independent and semi-independent Bantustans into the country's political structure. To this end, it abolished the four former provinces of South Africa (The Cape, Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal) and replaced them with nine fully integrated provinces. The new provinces were much smaller than their predecessors, which theoretically gave local governments more resources to spread over smaller areas. The nine provinces were later subdivided into 52 districts, six metropolitan and 46 municipal. The main ports of South Africa are: Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay and Mossel Bay.

Province Capital Area (km2) Population (2016) North Cape Kimberley 372.889 1.193.780 Western Cape Verde Cape Town 129.462 6.279.730 Eastern Cape Bhisho 168.966 6.996.976 Free State Bloemfontein 129.825 2.834.714 Gauteng Johannesburg 18.178 13.399.724 KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg 94.361 11.065.240 Limpo Polokwane 125.754 5,799.090 Mpumalanga Mbombela 76.495 4.335.964 Northwest Mafikeng 104.882 3.748.435 Total 1.219.080 48.502.063

Country political division.

Geography

Satellite image of South Africa.

Drakensberg Mountains, the highest point in South Africa.

With an area of 1,219,090 km², the Republic of South Africa lies at the southern tip of the African continent. The country borders Namibia to the northwest; to the north with Botswana and to the east with Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. The country is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Lesotho, an independent country but with important ties to South Africa, is completely surrounded by South African territory.

Due to the size of the country, the climate is highly variable depending on the climatic zones. In the south and the highlands, the climate is temperate, while in the northeast and east the climate is tropical and in the western part of the country it is semi-arid. The annual average rainfall is 464 mm.

The main rivers are the Orange River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean; the Vaal River, its main tributary, and the Limpopo, which flows into the Indian Ocean, rises near Johannesburg and then marks the border with Botswana and Zimbabwe in the north.

The southernmost point of the country, and therefore of the African continent, is Cape Agulhas.

Environment

In response to the drought, in October 2019, authorities introduced water restrictions in the country's main cities. Several regions in the center and north of the country had already suffered water cuts, in particular due to the failure of the facilities of South Africa's main water supplier, Rand Water. In some provinces, such as the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape, drought has ruined crops and killed herds of cattle.

South Africa is the biggest polluter on the African continent and the 14th biggest in the world in terms of carbon emissions. In 2019, the government introduced a carbon tax to try to encourage companies to make efforts. Despite the support of environmental organizations, this initiative is still considered insufficient and little deterrent. Air pollution would represent an annual cost of two billion euros.

Since the early 20th century, 37 plant species have disappeared in South Africa, mainly victims of deforestation.

Climate change

This section is a climate change extract in South Africa.[chuckles]edit]

Climate change will affect agriculture in South Africa (spider vines in Stellenbosch)

Climate change in South Africa is leading to increased temperatures and precipitation variability. Evidence shows that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. This is a key concern for South Africans, as climate change will affect the overall state and well-being of the country, for example, with regard to water resources. Like in many other parts of the world, climate research showed that the real challenge in South Africa was more related to environmental problems than to development issues. The most severe effect will be directed to water supply, which has enormous effects on the agricultural sector. Rapid environmental changes are generating clear effects on the community and the environmental level in different forms and aspects: from air quality, temperature and weather patterns, to food security and disease burden.

The various expected impacts of climate change in rural communities are droughts, the depletion of water resources and biodiversity, soil erosion, the decline in subsistence economies and the cessation of cultural activities.

South Africa provides significant CO2 emissions, the thirteenth largest CO2 issuer. Above the global average, South Africa generated 9.5 tons of CO2 emissions per capita in 2015. This is largely because its energy system depends largely on coal and oil. As part of its international commitments, South Africa is committed to achieving maximum emissions levels between 2020 and 2025.

Flora and fauna

South Africa has more than 20,000 different plants, which represent about 10% of all known species in the world, which is why it is considered an area particularly rich in plant biodiversity.

The prevailing biome in the country is grassland, especially in the Highveld, where the predominant flora is grasses, low shrubs and acacias, mainly whitethorn and camel. The vegetation is scarcer towards the northwest, due to the low rainfall.

WWF distinguishes four montane grassland ecoregions within the country:

• High Veld Prairie, Highveld
• Drakensberg mountain range in the Drakensberg, below 2500 metres
• Drkensberg's Altimontana Prairie, Drakensberg, above 2500 metres
• Matorral of Maputaland-Pondoland, in the valleys of the southern foothills of the Drakensberg

Spring flowers in Cape Town.

Savannah grass and thorns progressively give way to savannah shrubs towards the northeast of the country, with slower growth. There are significant numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern edge of the Kruger National Park.

Numerous habitats for mammals such as lion, leopard, blue wildebeest, kudu, impala, hyena, hippo and giraffe are found in the Bushveld. The Bushveld habitat extends significantly to the northeast, including territories belonging to the Kruger National Park and the Mala Mala Reserve, as well as the Waterberg Biosphere further north. WWF divides the Northeast Savannah region into three ecoregions, running from east to west: Zambezi Mopane Bushveld, Southern African Bushveld, and Kalahari Bushveld.

The desert region of the Karoo, in the west of the country, is divided into three ecoregions: the succulent Karoo, near the coast; the Karoo nama, in the interior (Namaqualand), where there are several species of plants that store water, such as aloes and euphorbias; and finally, and further north, the xeric savannah of the Kalahari.

A lion and a puppy eating a buffalo north of Sabi Sand, South Africa.

The Mediterranean fynbos biome, one of the six floral kingdoms, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and consists of more than 9,000 fynbos species, making it one of the richest regions in the world in terms of of Floral Biodiversity. Most plants are hard-leaved perennials with fine, needle-like leaves, such as sclerophyllous plants. Another plant exclusive to South Africa is the genus of proteas, of which there are around 130 different species in this country. WWF divides this region into three ecoregions: lowland fynbos and renosterveld, montane fynbos and renosterveld, and Albany scrub.

Although South Africa has an abundance of flowering plants, it has few forests. Only 1% of South Africa is forest, found almost exclusively on the wet Indian Ocean coastal plane in KwaZulu-Natal: the KwaZulu-Cape Coastal Mosaic Forest and the Maputaland Coastal Mosaic Forest and, further south, the Knysna montane rainforest and the Amatole Mountains. There are even smaller reserves of forests that are out of reach of the fire. Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly non-native eucalyptus and pine. South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades due to overpopulation, uncontrolled patterns of development and deforestation of the XIX.

South Africa is one of the countries most affected by the invasion of alien species (for example Acacia mearnsii, Port Jackson, Hakea, Lantana and Jacaranda) that are a great threat to native biodiversity and the current scarcity of water resources. The original temperate forest found by the first Europeans to settle in this country was ruthlessly exploited until only a few small areas remained. Hardwood trees in South Africa such as Podocarpus latifolius, Ocotea bullata and Olea laurifolia are currently under government protection. Finally, on the Indian coast there are several mangrove enclaves in southern Africa.

Climate change is expected to lead to a significant increase in warming and dryness for this already semi-arid region, with increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods and droughts. According to computer modeling by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) (along with many of its partner institutions), parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature of about 1 °C along the coast, which could reach over 4 °C in the already hot inland areas, such as in the Northern Cape in late spring and summer of 2050.

The Cape Floral Kingdom has been identified as one of the most sensitive hotspots for South African biodiversity, as it will be seriously affected by climate change and is home to an enormous diversity of life. Droughts, increased intensity and frequency of fires, and rising temperatures will lead to the extinction of many of these exotic species. The book Scorched: South Africa's changing climate uses much of the modeling done by SANBI and presents a compilation of travelogue-style essays.

South Africa is home to many endemic animal species, such as the critically endangered riparian rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis) in the Karoo.

Economy

Johannesburg is the main financial centre in the country and sub-Saharan Africa.

Per capita GDP development in Southern Africa

South Africa's economy is the most powerful and important on the African continent, concentrating almost 25% of all GDP on the continent, and plays an important role in the development of the region. It is considered an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. The South African economy relies on a large volume of national capital - public and private - in close relationship with the major world economies. Despite this, unemployment is extremely high and South Africa is among the ten countries with the most social inequality according to the Gini coefficient, around a quarter of the population is unemployed and the same proportion lives on less than $1.25 per day. In 2010, the country's total labor force was estimated at 17,390,000 people. In 2007, 9% of workers were employed in agriculture, 26% in industry, and 65% in services. From 2004 onwards, economic growth has been increasing, both in employment and in capital formation. In 2011 he was officially named one of the members of the BRICS countries. South Africa is a very popular tourist destination, with a substantial amount of revenue coming from tourism.

The national currency is the South African rand. Its ISO 4217 code is ZAR. This currency is also used in other countries of the Common Monetary Area of South Africa. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Africa and ranks seventeenth among the largest stock markets in the world. South Africa's main international trading partners—in addition to other African countries—include Germany, the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Spain.

In 2019, the average wage for white South Africans is 3.5 times that of black South Africans. Unemployment affects 27% of the population

Mining

South African Diamond.

Mining in South Africa has been the main reason why the country is among the great world economies. It is currently the second largest gold producer worldwide. Historically, mining in the country began with the discovery of diamonds on the banks of the Orange River in 1867. Around this time, gold mining would become famous in the Witwatersrand region, giving rise to the gold rush of 1886. Cities like Kimberley, arose thanks to the exploitation of mining resources in the north of the country. As of 2007, the South African mining industry has 493,000 workers.

South Africa is the world's largest producer of platinum, fifth largest gold producer and fifth largest coal producer and one of the largest exporters of diamonds. National diamond production is 94% controlled by De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., which is also present in other African countries. The exploitation of resources such as chromium, antimony, manganese, nickel, phosphates, uranium, copper, vanadium, salt and natural gas.

Agriculture

After the Second Boer War (1899-1902), the looting of black populations was institutionalized. In 1913, the Indian Land Act limited black land ownership to 7% of the territory (expanded to 13% in 1936). Four million peasants lose the land they still own and often become sharecroppers or miners, cheap labor for landlords

South African agricultural workers.

In 2007, work related to agriculture and livestock occupied 9% of the country's labor force. About 80% of the land is used for agriculture, but only 15% of it They are cultivable, the rest is used for grazing and livestock.

Agriculture accounts for 8% of the country's exports. The main export products are cereals —corn, wheat— fruits —apples, pears, peaches, apricots, avocados, grapefruit, tangerines, plums and table grapes— horticultural products, potatoes, sunflower seeds, meat —beef, chicken, lamb and pork — and eggs.

The climatic conditions that South Africa presents, especially the Western Cape, make it produce the best wine on the African continent, of as good quality as that made in Europe, the United States, Australia and the countries of the Southern Cone. The country is one of the major wine exporters in the world.

In 2018, 30,000 commercial farms employed about 840,000 farmworkers. The living conditions of the latter are often difficult; many live in slums without running water. The director of the association for rural development, Laurel Oettle, points out that "the seasonal workers have not had an income for months. Some are sometimes paid for with agricultural products. There are many cases of sexual abuse. Access to the tombs of ancestors gives rise to conflicts with the owners.

Demographics

Population density map in South Africa

≥1 /km2 1–3 /km2 3–10 /km2 10–30 /km2 30–100 /km2

100–300 /km2 300–1000 /km2 1000–3000 /km2 3000 /km²; color:white">

Demographic developments in South Africa from 1961 to 2003.

The majority of the population is made up of 79.6% blacks of African origin, Xhosa, Zulu, and 8 other groups. The percentage, however, is the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, the existing ethnic diversity and multiculturalism has earned it the name of the rainbow country. 9.2% of South Africans are white, of Dutch (Boer), French (Huguenot), British, and to a lesser extent Portuguese (who immigrated to South Africa after Angola and Mozambique became independent) ancestry. 8.8% are mestizos called coloured, descendants of the Boers and slaves of Malay or African origin. A fourth group is that of Asians (91% Hindustani) who live mainly around Durban, they represent 2.4% of the population. Of the four ethnic groups, only the white population is shrinking due to the low birth rate and emigration of white South Africans to Europe, North America and Oceania.

Since the fall of the apartheid regime in 1994, some 850,000 white South Africans (16% of the total) have emigrated, mainly to the United Kingdom and Australia due to the increase in insecurity and measures of racial discrimination against whites. Faced with this situation, since 2006 the government has begun to take incentive measures to reduce the emigration of the qualified white population, in the same way measures have been initiated in favor of the return of emigrants.^{[citation required]} In recent years there have been signs that some of these migrants have started to return to South Africa and according to the latest reports from the Statistical Institute of South Africa (StatsSA) the number of whites in the country has increased for the first time in many years. (108,000 between 2009 and 2010).^{[citation needed]}

Religion

The main religion is Christianity, mostly Protestant and Evangelical. But traditional African cults are also practiced, sometimes mixed with independent Christian proposals, Islam and Hinduism, forming minorities of more than 1%. It also highlights a Jewish community of around 70,000 people. The percentages of non-religious and atheists are also relevant. The last census with religious information was in 2001, in which the data is more detailed.

In 2016 the percentages were:

• Christianity – 78%
  • Protestants – 58.3%
    • Baptist Church - 15%
    • Methodist Church - 5%
    • Other Protestant affiliations – 53.3%
  • Catholic Church - 6.8%
  • Other Christian affiliations – 8.4%
  • Non-confessional Christian - 4.5%
• Jews – 0.1%
• Other religions - 9.8%
• Non-religious – 10.9%
• NC/NC/NR 1.2%

Health

HIV/AIDS is one of the main health problems in South Africa.

South Africa is the country in the world with the highest number of people infected with AIDS, which, together with a low birth rate by African standards (2.16 children per woman), has meant that its population has decreased in 2003, according to the CIA World Factbook. The spread of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is an alarming problem in South Africa when it was discovered in 2005 that more than 31% of pregnant women were infected with HIV and the infection rate among adults was close to 20%. The link between HIV, a virus transmitted mainly through sexual contact, and AIDS was long rejected by former President Thabo Mbeki and then Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who insisted that most deaths in the country were associated with malnutrition and high poverty, not HIV.

In 2007, in response to social pressure, the government began to focus its efforts on combating AIDS. In September 2008 Thabo Mbeki was forced to resign by the South African congress and Kgalema Motlanthe was appointed acting president. One of Mr Motlanthe's first actions was to replace health minister Tshabalala-Msimang with the current minister, Barbara Hogan.

AIDS affects mainly those who are sexually active and is much more common in the black population. Most of the people who die are also people who are working, so the result is that many families lose their source of income at home. This has also meant the foundation of many 'AIDS Orphanages' who in many cases depend on the state for their care and financial support. There are an estimated 1.2 million orphans in South Africa today. Many of the older people have also lost the support of the younger members of their families. Approximately five million people are infected by said infectious virus.

Languages

Map showing the main languages of South Africa.

Afrikaans Setsuana Sesotho Xhosa Sesotho sa leboa

Ndebele del Sur Zulu Venda Tsonga Swaziland

South Africa is the country with the most official languages in the world. It recognizes eleven languages as official languages, although the two main ones are of European origin: English, used as a vehicle of communication among all South Africans, and Afrikaans, derived from Dutch, is used by the Boer and also by the coloured. The other official languages are Ndebele, Sesotho (southern Sesotho), Northern Sesotho, Setswana (these three languages belong to the Sesoto group), Swazi, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and zulu.

Culture

South African flag flying in Cape Town.

In South Africa there is no single culture, but rather a diversity of cultures that have enriched South African music, art and gastronomy.

Pretoria University.

The racial variety of the country is very great. At the beginning of the XX century, 60% of the population was black, 30% white, and the rest in most of them mestizos or sudasiáticos. The predominant religion is Christian: 55% of the population Protestant, 9% Catholic. The rest of the inhabitants are Hindus, Muslims or of other confessions.

Due to apartheid, there has been uneven cultural development among the various historically separate racial and ethnic groups. Among the population of European origin, English culture has lately emerged as dominant after the end of apartheid and international isolation. The old distinction between the more nationalistic and religious Afrikaners and the more liberal and cosmopolitan Anglo-Saxons is blurring among the young and urban generations. In contrast, in rural areas, Afrikaans still resist abandoning their traditional culture, isolated for centuries from the evolution of Europe.

• Urban black culture is multi-ethnic and has an increasing influence both in the country and abroad, for example among African-Americans. It should be noted that an interracial culture is beginning to emerge in urban areas.
• In rural areas with a black majority, there is often a reaffirmation of the traditions of each ethnic group, in which customs such as polygamy and dowries are common.
• With regard to other notable ethnic groups, it was the group of the mestizos that had expressed greater reaffirmation. This mixed race group constitutes 9 per cent of the population of South Africa. The people of this group are called the term "color" (in English, colouredUnlike other Anglo-Saxon countries such as the United States or Great Britain, where the term "colour" has fallen into disuse.

South Africa has 11 of the 18 African Nobel laureates: Michael Levitt (Chemistry 2013), J. M. Coetzee (Literature, 2003), Sydney Brenner (Medicine 2002), Frederik Willem de Klerk (Peace, 1993), Nelson Mandela (Peace, 1993), Nadine Gordimer (Literature, 1991), Desmond Tutu (Peace, 1984), Aaron Klug (Chemistry, 1982), Allan M. Cormack (Medicine, 1979), Albert Lutuli (Peace, 1960) and Max Theiler (Medicine, 1951); South Africa has to its credit two of the four African Nobel laureates for literature: Nadine Gordimer and J. M. Coetzee and five of the six "scientific" Nobel laureates.

In addition, South Africa has the only two African universities among the top 400 in the world according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai University), including the University of Cape Town (University of Cape Town), the first of Africa ranked 156 according to the QS World University Rankings.

Music

South African artists had to abide by the censorship that the political regime placed on their work. For example, the word apartheid was prohibited and singer-songwriters were not allowed to put it in their lyrics. Great talents were stifled. Other great talents found great recognition outside their borders or, at the very least, freedom to sing the songs they wanted to sing. Great talent of worldwide recognition and in his land was the singer-songwriter Lucky Dube.

Parties

Media

Numerous newspapers are published in South Africa. These include: The Star, The Sowetan and This Day (published in Johannesburg), Isolezwe (published in Cape Town) and Daily Sun (published in Gauteng). In addition, it has numerous television stations, such as MSNBC Africa, the local signal of MSNBC in African territory; as well as CNBC Africa, a channel operated jointly with CNBC (a division of NBC Universal) and Africa Business News, based in Sandton, Johannesburg. The public broadcaster South African Broadcasting Corporation is also available. The sports television channel SuperSport is the main one in Africa.

Sports

Percy Montgomery is the rugby player with the record of more points per game.

The protea (national flower), has been adapted to be used in sports uniforms.

Racial and ethnic divisions show up even in sports: white Afrikaners are fans of rugby, while white English-speakers prefer cricket. Blacks (majority of the population), on the other hand, are more fond of soccer, making it the most popular sport in the country. During apartheid, numerous international sports federations applied sanctions to South African associations, particularly in the three mentioned sports.

In rugby, South Africa is a powerhouse, in fact, it is considered the national sport. The national team, known as the Springboks (Gazelles), have won the Rugby World Cup three times (1995, 2007) and the most recent in 2019, the Tri-Nations Tournament three times (1998, 2004 and 2009). The Bulls have won three Super Rugby championships against provincial teams from Australia and New Zealand.

As for soccer, FIFA prohibited the team from participating in official tournaments from 1974 until June 7, 1992. The Premier Soccer League is one of the most prominent club leagues on the continent.

Cricket is another important sport in South African life, with the country being one of the venues for the Cricket World Cup in 2003. Likewise, the national team managed to reach the semi-final three times in the tournament in 1992, 1999 and 2007, as well as winning the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

South Africans also left their mark on tennis, the best-known exponent in the white sport is Kevin Anderson, who was a finalist at the 2017 United States Open and the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, both times being defeated by the number 1 in the ranking at the time (Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic), in addition to obtaining the ATP 500 in Vienna in 2018.

Golf is another sport that has brought great triumphs to the country. Gary Player is considered one of the three best players in history. Meanwhile, Bobby Locke, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have won multiple majors, while Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel have won one.

Motor racing had South African history, notably retired Formula 1 driver Jody Scheckter, who won the title in 1979 with Ferrari, and one of the only female drivers, Desiré Wilson, to triumph in British Formula 1. Also on the Formula 1 calendar was the South African Grand Prix, but this was stopped due to apartheid in 1985. There was also a South African Formula 1 national championship run between 1960 and 1975. Then F1 would return in 1992 and 1993 when the promoter of the race went bankrupt. There has currently been speculation about the return of the top flight to the country.

Cycling is also a sport that has brought joy to the country, with professional cyclist Daryl Impey one of the few nationals to win stages in the most prestigious race in the world on wheels, the Tour de France, as well as being the the only one who has managed to be the leader of the "Grande Boucle".

The South African delegation to the Olympic Games has won 89 medals, including 25 golds. He ranked seventh in 1912, 11th in 1920, and 12th in 1952. He ranks fourth all-time in tennis, eleventh in boxing, and fourteenth in swimming. The city of Durban was designated as the venue for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The vast majority of national and international sports competitions are broadcast on the SuperSport subscription television channel, whose signal can be received in most of the continent.

South Africa's National Sports Day is celebrated every year on December 19.

Rugby World Cup 1995

It was held in South Africa between May 25 and June 24, 1995. Here the host team returned to official competitions, after not competing in 1987 and 1991 due to the sanctions imposed on the country due to its apartheid policy. The South African team won the final.

Cricket World Cup 2003

It was held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya in 2003, this was the first edition held in Africa, the South African team was eliminated in the first round.

The final was played in the city of Johannesburg, facing the teams of India and Australia, the latter winning.

Soccer World Cup 2010

Between June 11 and July 11, South Africa hosted the 2010 Soccer World Cup, which is why it submitted the candidacy to hold it in 2006, losing by a single vote to Germany. In 2004 it became a reality, when the highest governing body of soccer, FIFA, chose South Africa as the venue for 2010.