South Africa
South Africa is at the southern end of Africa. It’s a large land of great natural beauty and abundant resources. It has a troubled history and many problems, but South Africa is moving ahead even as it struggles with its difficult past.
Facts About South Africa
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Official name
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Republic of South Africa
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Capital
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Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial)
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Population
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43,800,000 people
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Rank among countries in population
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27th
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Major cities
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Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg
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Area
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471,000 square miles
1,220,000 square kilometers |
Rank among countries in area
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24th
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Highest point
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Njesuthi
11,306 feet/3,446 meters |
Currency
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Rand
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WHAT’S THE CAPITAL?
That’s a tough question, because South Africa has three capital cities! The parliament meets in Cape Town. Cape Town is the biggest city in South Africa, with about 3 million people. But the president runs his branch of government from the city of Pretoria. The judicial branch (the court system) is seated in yet another city, Bloemfontein.
VELD TO OCEAN
The landscape of South Africa is spectacular. The interior of the country is a high plateau called the Veld. The Veld is separated from the coast by the Great Escarpment. The Escarpment is a long mountain range that runs through much of southern Africa. In the Drakensberg Mountains in eastern South Africa, this ridge rises over 11,000 feet (3,400 meters). In some places, it’s a sheer cliff dropping down from the Veld.
KRUGER NATIONAL PARK
Maybe you’ve seen lions or giraffes in a zoo near home. But wouldn’t you like to see how these animals live in the wild? You can see this in South Africa.
In northeast South Africa, along its border with Mozambique, is Kruger National Park. It’s one of South Africa’s great tourist attractions. Here you can see lions, elephants, zebras, monkeys, rhinoceroses, antelope, and hundreds of other animals. You can even camp out in the park. But be careful, and don’t feed the animals!
GOLD AND DIAMONDS
More gold is mined in South Africa than in any other country in the world. South Africa is also famous for its diamonds. The largest diamond ever found came from South Africa. It was as big as an orange!
Many European settlers came to South Africa in search of gold or diamonds. Johannesburg, South Africa’s second biggest city, was founded in 1886 when gold was discovered. Talk about gold fever! Within ten years, Johannesburg was a city of 100,000 people.
THE FIRST SOUTH AFRICANS
The people of South Africa are as varied as the land. Three-fourths are black Africans. They were the country’s first inhabitants. Today, they belong to many different native groups and speak several different languages.
The Zulu are the largest native group, making up about one-fifth of South Africa’s total population. Most live in KwaZulu-Natal, a province in eastern South Africa. There was once a great Zulu kingdom there.
SETTLERS FROM EUROPE
The first Europeans to settle in South Africa came from Holland in the late 1600s. People from Germany and France came after the Dutch settlers. The descendents of these European settlers are called Afrikaners. Afrikaners have their own language, called Afrikaans.
Settlers from Great Britain began arriving during the early 1800s. Britain later ruled South Africa for more than a century. Afrikaners and descendants of British settlers make up most of South Africa’s white population.
APARTHEID
Until the early 1990s, white South Africans ruled the country through a system called apartheid. Apartheid means “separateness” in the Afrikaans language. It allowed the small, white population of South Africa to control the country’s large, black population.
Most black South Africans were poor during apartheid. Black South Africans had very few rights. They could not vote or live near whites. Millions were forced to live in shacks in shantytowns.
FROM PRISON TO PRESIDENT
Many South Africans, both black and white, battled against apartheid. Nelson Mandela was one of them. He spent 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid. Mandela was released in 1990. Soon afterward, black South Africans were granted the right to vote. Four years later, Mandela became president of South Africa! Today, South Africa still has many problems and many poor people, but it is a working democracy..
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa in 1994. Before that time, he spent many years in prison for opposing racial segregation in South Africa. Here, Mandela speaks after his release from prison in 1990.
Nelson Mandela, a boy from an African village, grew up to become the first black president of South Africa.
Before he became president, Mandela led a long and difficult struggle against segregation in South Africa. Under segregation, black and white people were kept apart. Segregation denied blacks many basic rights. Mandela spent many years in prison for trying to end segregation in South Africa.
EARLY LIFE
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918 in a small village in the Transkei region of South Africa. His father was a chief of the Thembu tribe. Mandela’s parents named him Rolihlahla, an African word that means troublemaker. Little did they know how fitting his name would be!
At the age of seven, Mandela became the first person in his family to go to school. At school, Mandela was given the name Nelson. He went on to attend college and earn a law degree in the city of Johannesburg.
FIGHTING SEGREGATION
When Mandela was a young man, South Africa was divided by segregation. Segregation in South Africa was called apartheid, a word that means apartness. Under apartheid, black people couldn’t vote or hold certain jobs. Whites controlled the government. Blacks and whites lived in separate areas and went to different schools.
Mandela opposed this cruel and unfair system. In 1944, Mandela joined a group called the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC opposed the rule of South Africa by whites alone. The ANC believed that South Africa belonged to everyone, whatever the color of their skin.
A NATURAL LEADER
Mandela was a natural leader and a gifted speaker. He became a leader in the ANC, and he encouraged people to break the apartheid laws. The government saw Mandela as a troublemaker. It tried to stop him.
The government made the ANC illegal. Mandela was arrested several times. When he was released, he continued to fight for an end to apartheid. In 1962, the government sentenced Mandela to five years in prison. Then, in 1964, he was accused of working to overthrow the government. The government increased Mandela’s sentence to life in prison.
MANDELA IN PRISON
The government sent Mandela to a prison on Robben Island, off the coast of South Africa. The prison conditions were harsh. Mandela was allowed only one visitor every six months. Every day he was forced to break rocks in the prison yard for many hours.
During this time, Mandela became the world’s most famous political prisoner. Leaders around the word demanded Mandela’s freedom. They wanted apartheid in South Africa to end.
In 1982, the government moved Mandela to a prison on the mainland. This was during a time of growing violence in South Africa. Many people protested in the streets against apartheid.
PEACEMAKER
The government began secret talks with Mandela. They believed that if anyone could stop the trouble, Mandela could. He was a popular leader who had won the support of many South Africans.
In 1990, Mandela was released after spending 27 years in prison. The government lifted the ban on the ANC. Mandela became its leader in 1992. Mandela soon began talks with the government aimed at ending apartheid.
Many white people worried about giving blacks equal rights. Mandela worked with South Africa’s president, F. W. de Klerk, to promote peaceful relations between blacks and whites. For their efforts, Mandela and de Klerk won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA
In 1994, South Africa held elections. For the first time in South Africa’s history, men and women of all races could vote. Mandela became the first black president of South Africa. He brought an end to the hated apartheid system.
After five years as president, Mandela retired from political office. He returned to live in the Transkei region, where he grew up.