South Africa
South Africa is a republic at the southern tip of Africa. It is bordered to the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the north-east by Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is contained entirely inside the borders of South Africa.
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| National motto: !ke e: /xarra //ke (Khoisan of the /Xam: diverse people unite) [1] | |||||
| Official languages | Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho, Tsonga, Tswana and Venda | ||||
| Capitals | Cape Town (legislative) Pretoria (administrative) Bloemfontein (judicial) | ||||
| Largest City | Johannesburg | ||||
| President | Thabo Mbeki | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 24th 1,219,912 km² Negligible | ||||
| Population
- Total (2002) - Density | Ranked 26th
43,647,658 36/km² | ||||
| Independence - Union of South Africa - Republic of South Africa - First democratic elections |
May 31, 1910 May 31, 1961 April 27, 1994 | ||||
| Currency | Rand | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +2 | ||||
| National anthems | Nkosi Sikelel iAfrica (God Bless Africa) Die Stem van Suid Afrika (The Call of South Africa) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .ZA | ||||
| Calling Code | 27 | ||||
| Table of contents |
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2 Politics 3 Provinces 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External links |
History
Main article: History of South AfricaPolitics
Main article: Politics of South AfricaProvinces
Main article: Provinces of South AfricaGeography
Main article: Geography of South AfricaEconomy
Main article: Economy of South Africa
| Date | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year's Day |
| March 21 | Human Rights Day |
| The Friday before Easter Sunday | Good Friday |
| The day after Easter Sunday | Easter Monday |
| April 27 | Freedom Day |
| 1 May | Labour Day |
| June 16 | Youth Day |
| August 9 | National Women's Day |
| September 24 | Heritage Day |
| December 16 | Day of Reconciliation |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
| December 26 | Day of Goodwill |
The Public Holidays Act (Act No 36 of 1994) determines whenever any public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Monday following on it shall be a public holiday
Miscellaneous topics
Southern Africa seen from Aqua and Terra satellites
External links
