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6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your South Africa wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

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8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the South Africa site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

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10. Payment - ready to pay for your South Africa, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox Country or territory|conventional_long_name = iki ya Afurika-->|common_name = South Africa|image_flag = Flag of South Africa.svg|image_coat = Coat_of_arms_of_South_Africa.svg|symbol_type = Coat of arms|image_map = LocationSouthAfrica.svg|national_motto = !ke e: xarra ke(ǀXam language)“Unity In Diversity” (literally “Diverse People Unite”)|national_anthem = National anthem of South Africa ] |Afrikaans ] |Southern Ndebele language |Northern Sotho language |Sotho language |Swati language |Tsonga language |Tswana language |Venda language |Xhosa language |Zulu language-->|demonym = South African|capital = Pretoria (executive)Bloemfontein (judicial)Cape Town (legislative)] (2006) |government_type = Democracy|leader_name1 = [Thabo Mbeki|sovereignty_note = from the [United Kingdom|established_date1 = [31 May 1910|established_date2 = [11 December 1921-->|percent_water = Negligible|population_estimate = 47,432,000|population_estimate_year = 2005|population_estimate_rank = 26th|population_census = 44,819,278|population_census_year = 2001|population_density_km2 = 39|population_density_sq_mi = 101 |currency_code = ZAR|country_code = RSA|time_zone = SAST|calling_code = 27-->

The Republic of South Africa (also known by [Official names of South Africa) is the country at the southern tip of Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean oceans and Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho, an independent enclave surrounded by South African territory. South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, due to its having the largest economy in Africa, is the most socially, economically and infrastructurally developed country on the continent.

South Africa has experienced a different history from other nations in Africa because of early immigration from Europe and the strategic importance of the History of Cape Colony. European immigration began shortly after the Dutch East India Company founded a station at what would become Cape Town, in 1652. The closure of the Suez Canal during the Six-Day War exemplified its significance to East-West trade. The country's relatively developed infrastructure made its mineral wealth available and important to Western world interests, particularly throughout the late nineteenth century and, with international competition and rivalry, during the Cold War. South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest Whites in South Africa, Asians in South Africa, and Coloured communities in Africa. Black people South Africans, who speak nine officially recognised languages, and many more dialects, account for slightly less than 80% of the population.

Racial strife between the white minority and the black majority has played a large part in South Africa's History of South Africa and Politics of South Africa, culminating in History of South Africa in the apartheid era, which was instituted in 1948 by the National Party (South Africa) (although Racial segregation existed before that time). The laws that defined apartheid began to be repealed or abolished by the National Party in 1990, after a long and sometimes violent struggle (including economic sanctions from the international community) by the Black majority as well as many White, Coloured, and Indian South Africans.

Several philosophies and ideologies have developed in South Africa, including Ubuntu (ideology) (the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity) and Jan Smuts's holism.

Regular Elections in South Africas have been held for almost a century; but the majority of South Africans were not enfranchisement until 1994.

South Africa is often called the "Rainbow Nation", a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later adopted by then President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. Mandela used the term "Rainbow Nation" as a metaphor to describe the country's newly developing multicultural diversity after segregationist apartheid ideology. The country's socially progressive policies are rare in Africa, for example, by 2007, the country had joined Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, and parts of the United States in legalising same-sex marriage.

History South Africa contains some of the oldest and most beautiful archaeological sites in Africa. Extensive fossil remains at the Sterkfontein, Kromdraai, Gauteng and Makapansgat caves suggest that various australopithecus existed in South Africa from about three million years ago. These were succeeded by various species of Homo, including Homo habilis, Homo erectus and modern man, Homo sapiens. Bantu languages-speaking Bantu peoples of South Africa, iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen, moved south of the Limpopo River into modern-day South Africa by the fourth or fifth century (the Bantu#Bantu expansion) displacing the original Khoi and San speakers. They slowly moved south and the earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal are believed to date from around 1050. The southernmost group was the Xhosa people, whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the earlier Khoi and San people, reaching the Great Fish River, in today's Eastern Cape. These Iron Age populations displaced earlier hunter-gatherer peoples as they migrated.







, the first European to settle in South Africa, with Devil's Peak (Cape Town) in the background.

The written is largely thein which the history of South Africa begins with the arrival of the Portuguese. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to reach the southernmost tip of Africa. When he returned to Lisbon carrying news of the discovery, which he called Cabo das Tormentas (Cape of Storms) due to the stormy conditions he had encountered in the region, his royal sponsor, John II of Portugal, chose a different name, Cabo da Boa Esperança or Cape of Good Hope, for it promised a sea route to the riches of India then being sought by Portugal. Later, the great Portuguese poet Camoens immortalized Dias' voyage in the epic poem The Lusiads, specifically via the mythological character, Adamastor, which symbolizes the forces of nature the Portuguese navigators had to overcome during the circumnavigation of the cape.

Along with the accounts of the early navigators, the accounts of shipwreck survivors provide the earliest written accounts of Southern Afsdi;okjf;'lsrica. In the two centuries following 1488, a number of small fishing settlements were made along the coast by Portuguese sailors, but no written account of these settlements survives. In 1652 a victualling station was established at the Cape of Good Hope by Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the slowly-expanding settlement was a Netherlands possession. The Dutch settlers eventually met the south-westerly expanding Xhosa people in the region of the Great Fish River. A series of wars, called Xhosa Wars, ensued, mainly caused by conflicting land and livestock interests.

To ease Cape labour shortages slavery were brought from Indonesia, Madagascar, and India. Furthermore, troublesome leaders, often of royal descent, were banished from Dutch colonies to South Africa. This group of slaves eventually gave rise to a population that now identifies themselves as "Cape Malays". Cape Malays have traditionally been accorded a higher social status by the European colonists — many became wealthy landowners, but became increasingly dispossessed as History of South Africa in the apartheid era developed. Cape Malay mosques in District Six, Cape Town were spared, and now serve as monuments for the destruction that occurred around them.

Most of the descendants of these slaves, who often married with Dutch settlers, were later classified together with the remnants of the Khoikhoi (aka Khoisan) as Cape Coloureds. Further intermingling within the Cape Coloureds population itself, as well as with Xhosa and other South African people, now means that they constitute roughly 50% of the population in the Western Cape.Kingdom of Great Britain seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1795 ostensibly to stop it falling into the hands of the French, but also seeking to use Cape Town in particular as a stop on the route to Australia and India. It was returned to the Dutch in 1803, but soon afterwards the Dutch East India Company declared bankruptcy, and the British annexed the Cape Colony in 1806. The British continued the frontier wars against the Xhosa, pushing the eastern frontier eastward through a line of forts established along the Fish River and consolidating it by encouraging 1820 Settlers. Due to pressure of Abolitionism societies in Britain, the British parliament first stopped its global History of slavery in 1807, then abolished slavery in all its colonies in 1833.

The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886 encouraged economic growth and immigration, intensifying the subjugation of the natives. The Boers successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, much better suited to local conditions. However, the British returned in greater numbers without their red jackets in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The Boers' attempt to ally themselves with German South-West Africa provided the British with yet another excuse to take control of the Boer Republics.

civilians watching United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland soldiers burn down their house: Boers were given 10 minutes to gather belongings

The Boers resisted fiercely, but the British eventually overwhelmed the Boer forces, using their superior numbers, improved tactics and external supply chains. Also during this war, the British used controversial Internment#Concentration camp and scorched earth tactics, forcing whole families into crowded tents and burning their houses. Crops were burnt and all livestock slaughtered to demoralize the resisting Boers. The appalling conditions in British concentration camps were brought to light by Welfare Campaigner Emily Hobhouse in her report "Report of a Visit to the Camps of Women and Children in the Cape and Orange River Colonies". Maltreatment and undernourishment were common in camps. Food was often poisoned and glass pieces and hooks were found in many rations. The death toll reached 26,370 of which 24,000 were children.

The Treaty of Vereeniging specified full British sovereignty over the South African republics, and the British government agreed to assume the British Pound3 000 000 war debt owed by the Afrikaner governments. One of the main conditions by the of the treaty ending the war was that 'Blacks' would not be allowed to vote, except in the Cape Colony.

After four years of negotiations, the Union of South Africa was created from the Cape Colony and Colony of Natal colonies, as well as the republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal, on May 31, 1910, exactly eight years after the end of the Second Boer War. The newly-created Union of South Africa was a dominion. In 1934, the South African Party (Union of South Africa) and National Party (South Africa) merged to form the United Party (South Africa), seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English language-speaking 'Whites', but split in 1939 over the Union's entry into World War II as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which the National Party strongly opposed.

In 1948 the National Party (South Africa) was elected to power, and began History of South Africa in the apartheid era that would become known collectively as History of South Africa in the apartheid era. Not surprisingly, this segregation also applied to the wealth acquired during rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, often comparable to "First World" western nations, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. However, the average income and life expectancy of a black, 'Indian' or 'coloured' South African compared favourably to many other African states, such as Ghana and Tanzania as education and health were provided, though selectively.

Apartheid became increasingly controversial, leading to widespread International sanctions and divestment abroad and growing unrest and oppression within South Africa. (See also the article on the History of South Africa in the apartheid era.) A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, Strike actions, marches, protests, and sabotage by bombing and other means, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National Congress (ANC), followed. In the late 1970s, South Africa began a program of nuclear weapons, and in the following decade it produced six deliverable nuclear weapons. The rationale for the nuclear arsenal is disputed, but it is believed that B.J. Vorster and Pieter Willem Botha wanted to be able to catalyse United States intervention in the event of a war between South Africa and the Cuban-supported Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola government of Angola.

In 1990 the National Party government took the first step towards negotiating itself out of power when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress and other Left-wing politics political organisations, and released Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years' incarceration on a sabotage sentence. Apartheid legislation was gradually removed from the statute books, and South Africa also destroyed its nuclear arsenal and acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The first South African general election, 1994 were held in 1994, which the ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since.

Despite the end of apartheid, millions of South Africans, mostly black, continue to live in poverty. This is partly attributed to the legacy of the apartheid system and, increasingly, what many see as the failure of the current government to tackle social issues, coupled with the monetary and fiscal discipline of the current government to ensure both redistribution of wealth and economic growth. In the ten years since the ANC government took power, South Africa's United Nations Human Development Index has fallen dramatically, while it was steadily rising until the mid-1990s. Much of this could be attributed to the AIDS pandemic and the government's failure to take steps to address it. However, the ANC's social housing policy has produced some improvement in living conditions in many areas by redirecting fiscal spending and improving the efficiency of the tax collection system.

Government and politics , the administrative capital of South AfricaSouth Africa is the only nation in the world with 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 ninety members of the National Council of Provinces (the upper house); and the four hundred members of the National Assembly of South Africa (the lower house). Members of the lower house are elected on a population basis by proportional representation: half of the members are elected from national lists and half are elected from provincial lists. Ten members are elected to represent each province in the National Council of Provinces, regardless of the population of the province. Elections for both chambers are held every five years. The government is formed in the upper house, and the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly is the President of South Africa.

Current South African politics are dominated by the African National Congress (ANC), which received 69.7% of the vote during the last South African general election, 2004 and 66.3% of the vote in the South African municipal election, 2006. The current (2004-2009 term) President of South Africa is Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded former President Nelson Mandela. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance (South Africa) party, which received 12.4% of the vote in the 2004 election and 14.8% in the 2006 election. The leader of this party is Helen Zille (elected May 6, 2007). The previous leader of the party was Tony Leon. The formerly dominant New National Party (South Africa), which introduced apartheid through its predecessor, the National Party (South Africa), suffered increasing humiliation at election polls since 1994, and finally voted to disband. It chose to merge with the ANC on 9 April 2005. Other major political parties represented in Parliament are the Inkatha Freedom Party, which mainly represents Zulu voters, and the Independent Democrats (South Africa), who took 6.97% and 1.7% of the vote respectively, in the 2004 election.

However since 2004 the country has suffered many thousands of popular protests, some violent, making it, according to one academic, the "most protest rich country in the world.". Many of these protests have been organised from the growing shanty towns that surround South African cities.

Law The primary sources of South Africa law were Roman-Dutch mercantile law and personal law with English Common law, as imports of Dutch settlements and British colonialism. The first European based law in South Africa was brought by the Dutch East India Company and is called Roman-Dutch law. It was imported before the codification of European law into the Napoleonic Code and is comparable in many ways to Scots law. This was followed in the 19th century by Law of the United Kingdom both Common law and Statutory law. Starting in 1910 with unification, South Africa had its own parliament which passed laws specific for South Africa, building on those previously passed for the individual member colonies.

Provinces, districts and municipalities ]

When apartheid ended in 1994, the South African government had to integrate the formerly independent and semi-independent Bantustans into the political structure of South Africa. To this end, it abolished the four former provinces of South Africa (Cape Province, Natal Province, Orange Free State, and Transvaal) and replaced them with nine fully integrated provinces. The new provinces are usually much smaller than the former provinces, which theoretically gives local governments more resources to distribute over smaller areas.

The nine provinces are further subdivided into Districts of South Africa: Metropolitan municipality (South Africa) and District municipality (South Africa). The 46 district municipalities are further subdivided into Local municipality (South Africa). The district municipalities also contain 20 district management areas (mostly game parks) that are directly governed by the district municipalities. The six metropolitan municipalities perform the functions of both district and local municipalities. The new provinces are:

Geography South Africa is located at the southernmost region of Africa, with a long coastline that stretches more than 2500 kilometres (1 550 mile) and across two oceans (the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean). At 470 979 square miles (1 219 912 square kilometre), South Africa is the world's 25th-largest country (after Mali). It is comparable in size to Colombia. Njesuthi in the Drakensberg at 3 408 m (11,424 ft) is the highest peak in South Africa.

South Africa has a generally temperate climate, due in part to it being surrounded by the Atlantic and 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.

The climatic zones vary, from the extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropics climate in the east along the Mozambique border and the Indian Ocean ocean. From the east, the land quickly rises over a mountain range escarpment towards the interior plateau known as the Highveld. Even though South Africa is classified as semi-arid, there is considerable variation in climate as well as topography.

The interior of South Africa is a vast, rather flat, and sparsely populated scrubland, Karoo, which is drier towards the northwest along the Namib desert. In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well-watered, which produces a climate similar to the tropics. The extreme southwest has a climate remarkably similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous Fynbos Biome. This area also produces much of South Africa's wine. This region is also particularly known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the country's south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. This area is popularly known as the Garden Route.

The Free State is particularly flat due to the fact that it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at 1740 metres (5 709 foot (unit of length)) and receives an annual rainfall of 760 millimetres (30 inch). Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare.

To the north of Johannesburg, the altitude drops beyond the Highveld's escarpment, and turns into the lower lying Bushveld, an area of mixed dry forest and an abundance of wildlife. East of the Highveld, beyond the eastern escarpment, the Lowveld stretches towards the Indian Ocean ocean. It has particularly high temperatures, and is also the location of extended subtropical agriculture. The mountains of the Barberton Greenstone belt in the lowveld are the oldest mountains on Earth, dating back 3.5 Billion years. The earliest reliable proof of life (dated 3.2–3.5 Billion years old) has been found in these mountains.

The high Drakensberg, which form the south-eastern escarpment of the Highveld, offer limited skiing opportunities in winter. Many people think that the coldest place in South Africa is Sutherland, South Africa in the western Roggeveld Mountains, where midwinter temperatures can reach as low as −15 degrees Celsius (5 °Fahrenheit). In fact, the coldest place is actually Buffelsfontein, which is in the Molteno district of the Eastern Cape. Buffelsfontein recorded a low of −18.6 degrees Celsius (-1.5 °Fahrenheit).{{cite web|url=http://www.weathersa.co.za/Pressroom/2005/2005Jun30ColdestPlaceInSA.jsp|title=Coldest Place in South Africa|publisher=Weather SA|date=30 June 2005--> The deep interior has the hottest temperatures: A temperature of 51.7 °C (125 °F) was recorded in 1948 in the Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington. SouthAfrica.info: South Africa's geography

South Africa also has one possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island (290 km²/112 mi²) and Prince Edward Island (45 km²/17.3 mi²) (not to be confused with the Prince Edward Island).

Flora and fauna , a floristic province unique to South Africa, is found near Cape Town

South Africa is one of only 17 countries worldwide considered Megadiverse countries. It has 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. South Africa is the third most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Indonesia and has greater biodiversity than any country of equal or smaller size (Brazil being roughly seven times South Africa's size, and Indonesia more than 50% larger).

South Africa's most prevalent biome is grassland, particularly on the Highveld, where the plant cover is dominated by different Poaceae, low shrubs, and acacia trees, mainly camel-thorn and whitethorn. Vegetation becomes even more sparse towards the northwest due to low precipitation (meteorology). There are several species of water-storing succulents like aloes and euphorbias in the very hot and dry Namaqualand area. The grass and thorn savannah turns slowly into a bush savannah towards the north-east of the country, with more dense growth. There are significant numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern end of Kruger National Park. Plants and Vegetation in South Africa, South Africa Online Travel Guide.

The Fynbos Biome, which makes up the majority of the area and plant life in the Cape floristic region, one of the six floristic provinces, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and contains more than 9,000 of those species, making it among the richest regions on earth in terms of floral biodiversity. The majority of the plants are evergreen hard-leaf plants with fine, needle-like leaf, such as the sclerophyllous plants. Another uniquely South African plant is the protea genus of flowering plants. There are around 130 different species of protea in South Africa.

While South Africa has a great wealth of flowering plants, it has few forests. Only 1% of South Africa is forest, almost exclusively in the humid coastal plain along the Indian Ocean in KwaZulu-Natal (see KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic). There are even smaller reserves of forests that are out of the reach of fire, known as montane forests (see Knysna-Amatole montane forests). Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly the non-native eucalyptus and pine. South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades, primarily due to overpopulation, sprawling development patterns and deforestation during the nineteenth century. South Africa is one of the worst affected countries in the world when it comes to invasion by alien species with many (e.g. Acacia mearnsii, Acacia saligna, Hakea, Lantana and Jacaranda) posing a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the already scarce water resources. The original temperate forest that met the first European settlers to South Africa was exploited ruthlessly until only small patches remained. Currently, South African hardwood trees like Real Yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius), Ocotea bullata (Ocotea bullata), and South African Black Ironwood (Olea laurifolia) are under government protection.

Numerous mammals are found in the bushveld habitats including lion, leopard, White Rhino, Blue Wildebeest, kudu, impala, hyena, hippopotamus, and giraffe. A significant extent of the bushveld habitat exists in the north-east including Kruger National Park and the Mala Mala Reserve, as well as in the far north in the Waterberg Biosphere.

Mpumalanga, previously known as the Eastern Transvaal has much in the way to offer, from scenery, to ancient history and the big 5. With hundreds of species of birds, mammals and reptiles it is the Safari destination of choice. Visit Mpumalanga to find out more about the Bio Diversity, the culture, The history and the amazing scenery of this area.

Climate change is expected to bring considerable warming and drying to much of this already semi-arid region, with greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, flooding and drought. According to computer generated climate modelling produced by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) South African National Biodiversity Institute. (along with many of its partner institutions), parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about one degree Celsius along the coast to more than four degrees Celsius in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050.

The Cape Floral Kingdom has been identified as one of the global biodiversity hotspots since it will be hit very hard by climate change and has such a great diversity of life. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire and climbing temperatures are expected to push many of these rare species towards extinction. The book Scorched : South Africa's changing climate takes much of the modelling produced by SANBI and presents it in an accessible travelogue-style collection of essays. Scorched: South Africa’s changing climate.

South Africa houses many endemic species, among them the critically endangered Riverine Rabbit (Bunolagus monticullaris) in the Karoo.

Economy in Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background. Cape Town has become an important retail and tourism centre for the country, and attracts the largest number of foreign visitors in South Africa

By UN classification South Africa is a middle-income country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange (the JSE Securities Exchange), that ranks among the top twenty in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres throughout the region. South Africa is ranked 24th in the world in terms of GDP, corrected for purchasing power parity.

In many respects, South Africa is under-developed, however; advanced development is significantly localised around four areas, namely Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Pretoria/Johannesburg. Beyond these four economic centres, development is marginal and poverty still reigns despite government efforts. Consequently the vast majority of South Africans are poor. However, key marginal areas are experiencing rapid growth recently. Such areas include: Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay; Rustenburg area; Nelspruit area; Bloemfontein; Cape West Coast; KwaZulu-Natal North Coast amongst others.

Large income gaps and a dual economy designate South Africa as a developing country. South Africa has one of the highest rates of List of countries by income equality in the world. The white South African minority tends to be considerably wealthier than the rest of the population. A decade of continual economic growth has helped to lower unemployment, but daunting economic problems remain. The average South African household income considerably decreased between 1995 and 2000. As to racial inequality, Statistics South Africa reported that in 1995 the average white household earned 4 times as much as the average African household. In 2000 the average white household was earning 6 times the average African household. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS.

At the start of 2000, President Thabo Mbeki vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment by relaxing restrictive labour laws, stepping up the pace of privatisation, and cutting unneeded governmental spending. His policies face strong opposition from organised labour movement. South Africa is also the continent's largest energy producer and consumer.

The South African South African rand (ZAR), the world's most actively-traded emerging market currency, has joined an elite club of fifteen currencies, the Continuous linked settlement (CLS), where forex transactions are settled immediately, lowering the risks of transacting across time zones. The South African rand was the best-performing currency against the United States dollar (USD) between 2002 and 2005, according to the Bloomberg L.P. Currency Scorecard.

The volatility of the South African rand has affected economic activity, with the rand falling sharply during 2001, hitting an historic low of 13.85 ZAR to the U.S. dollar, raising fears of inflation, and causing the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates. The rand has since recovered, trading at 7.14 ZAR to the dollar as of September 2007 while the South African Reserve Bank's policy of inflation targeting has brought inflation under control. The stronger rand has however put exporters under considerable pressure, with many calling for government to intervene in the exchange rate to help soften the rand, and many others dismissing staff.

Refugees from poorer neighbouring countries abound with immigrants from the DRC, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi and many others representing a large portion of the informal sector. With high unemployment levels amongst poorer South Africans, xenophobia is a very real fear and many people born in South Africa feel resentful of immigrants who are seen to be depriving the native population of jobs, a feeling which has been given credibility by the fact that many South African employers have employed migrants from other countries for lower pay than South African citizens, especially in the construction, tourism, agriculture and domestic service industries. Illegal immigrants are also heavily involved in informal trading. African Security Review Vol 5 No 4, 1996: Strategic Perspectives on Illegal Immigration into South Africa However, many immigrants to South Africa continue to live in poor conditions, and the South African immigration policy has become increasingly restrictive since 1994. Queens College: The Brain Gain: Skilled Migrants and Immigration Policy in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Agriculture .South Africa has a large agricultural sector and is a net exporter of farming products. There are almost a thousand agricultural cooperatives and agribusinesses throughout the country, and agricultural exports have constituted 8% of South Africa's total exports for the past five years. The agricultural industry contributes around 10% of formal employment, relatively low compared to other parts of Africa, as well as providing work for casual labourers and contributing around 2.6% of Gross Domestic Product for the nation.Human Rights Watch, 2001. Unequal Protection: The State Response to Violent Crime on South African Farms, ISBN 1-56432-263-7. However, due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% can be used for crop production, and only 3% is considered high potential land. Mohamed, Najma. 2000. "Greening Land and Agrarian Reform: A Case for Sustainable Agriculture", in At the Crossroads: Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa into the 21st Century, ed. Cousins, Ben. Bellville, School of Government, University of the Western Cape. ISBN 1-86808-467-1.

Although the commercial farming sector is relatively well developed, people in some rural areas still survive on subsistence agriculture. It is the eighth largest wine producer in the world, and the eleventh largest producer of sunflower seed. South Africa is a net exporter of agricultural products and foodstuffs, the largest number of exported items being sugar, grapes, citrus, nectarines, winemaking and deciduous fruit. The largest locally produced crop is maize (corn), and it has been estimated that 9 million tons are produced every year, with 7.4 million tons being consumed. Livestock are also popular on South African farms, with the country producing 85% of all meat consumed. The dairy industry consists of around 4,300 milk producers providing employment for 60,000 farm workers and contributing to the livelihoods of around 40,000 others.

In recent years, the agricultural sector has introduced several reforms, some of which are controversial, such as land reform and the deregulation of the market for agricultural products. Land reform has been criticised both by farmers' groups and by landless workers, the latter alleging that the pace of change has not been fast enough, and the former alleging racist treatment and expressing concerns that a similar situation to Land reform in Zimbabwe may develop, South Africa's bitter harvest. a fear exacerbated by comments made by the country's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. South Africans' long wait for land, BBC News. SA 'to learn from' land seizures, BBC News. The sector continues to face problems, with increased foreign competition and crime being two of the major challenges for the industry. The government has been accused of not devoting enough time and money to tackle the problem of South African farm attacks as opposed to other forms of violent crime. Farms of Fear, The Sunday Times Magazine.

Another issue which affects South African agriculture is environmental damage caused by misuse of the land and global climate change. South Africa is unusually vulnerable to climate change and resultant diminution of surface waters. Some predictions shows surface water supply could decrease by 60% by the year 2070 in parts of the Western Cape. Climate change to create African 'water refugees' – scientists, Reuters Alertnet. Accessed 21 September 2006. To reverse the damage caused by land mismanagement, the government has supported a scheme which promotes [sustainable development and the use of natural resources. Department of Agriculture South Africa.

Demographics {{USCensusPop|1900 = 5014000|1910 = 5842000|1920 = 6953000|1930 = 8580000|1940 = 10341000|1950 = 13310000|1960 = 16385000|1970 = 21794000|1980 = 24261000|1990 = 37944000|2000 = 43686000| estimate= 48000000| estyear= 2007| estref=| footnote=http://populstat.info/Africa/souafrica.htm-->South Africa is a nation of more than 47 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and beliefs. The last South African National Census of 2001 was held in 2001 and the next will be in 2011. Statistics South Africa provided five race categories by which people could classify themselves, the last of which, "unspecified/other" drew negligible responses, and these results were omitted. Census 2001, Statistics South Africa. The 2006 midyear estimated figures for the other categories were Black (people) at 79.5%, Whites in South Africa at 9.2%, Coloured at 8.9%, and Asians in South Africa at 2.5%.{{cite web|url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022006.pdf|title=Midyear population estimates, South Africa|format=PDF|date=2006|publisher=Statistics South Africa--> South Africa has a yearly population growth rate of −0.46%.{{cite web|url=http://www.xist.org/earth/pop_growth.aspx|title=The demographic status of the world's population|work = Global Statistics |publisher=GeoHive -->

By far the major part of the population classified itself as African or black, but it is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous. Major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho (South Sotho), Bapedi (North Sotho), Venda people, Tswana, Shangaan, Swazi and Ndebele people (South Africa), all of which speak Bantu languages (see Bantu peoples of South Africa).

Some, such as the Zulu, Xhosa, Bapedi and Venda groups, are unique to South Africa. Other groups are distributed across the borders with South Africa's neighbours: The Basotho group is also the major ethnic group in Lesotho. The Tswana ethnic group constitute the majority of the population of Botswana. The Swazi ethnic group is the major ethnic group in Swaziland. The Ndebele people (South Africa) ethnic group is also found in Matabeleland in Zimbabwe, where they are known as the Ndebele people (Zimbabwe). These Ndebele people are however in effect Zulu people because the language they speak is Zulu and they are the descendants of a faction under the warrior Mzilikazi that escaped persecution from Shaka by migrating to their current territory. The Shangaan ethnic group is also found in southern Mozambique, where they are known as the Shangaan.

The white population descends largely from colonial immigrants: Netherlands, Germany, France Huguenot, and United Kingdom. Culturally and linguistically, they are divided into the Afrikaners, who speak Afrikaans, and English language-speaking groups, many of whom are descended from British immigrants (see Anglo African). Many small communities that have immigrated over the last century retain the use of other languages. The white population is on the decrease due to a low birth rate and emigration; as a factor in their decision to emigrate, many cite the high Crime in South Africa rate and the government's affirmative action policies. In the first decade after the ANC took power, a million whites emigrated. Fin24.

{{Infobox Country or territory|conventional_long_name = iki ya Afurika-->|common_name = South Africa|image_flag = Flag of South Africa.svg|image_coat = Coat_of_arms_of_South_Africa.svg|symbol_type = Coat of arms|image_map = LocationSouthAfrica.svg|national_motto = !ke e: xarra ke(ǀXam language)“Unity In Diversity” (literally “Diverse People Unite”)|national_anthem = National anthem of South Africa ] |Afrikaans ] |Southern Ndebele language |Northern Sotho language |Sotho language |Swati language |Tsonga language |Tswana language |Venda language |Xhosa language |Zulu language-->|demonym = South African|capital = Pretoria (executive)Bloemfontein (judicial)Cape Town (legislative)] (2006) |government_type = Democracy|leader_name1 = [Thabo Mbeki|sovereignty_note = from the [United Kingdom|established_date1 = [31 May 1910|established_date2 = [11 December 1921-->|percent_water = Negligible|population_estimate = 47,432,000|population_estimate_year = 2005|population_estimate_rank = 26th|population_census = 44,819,278|population_census_year = 2001|population_density_km2 = 39|population_density_sq_mi = 101 |currency_code = ZAR|country_code = RSA|time_zone = SAST|calling_code = 27-->

The Republic of South Africa (also known by [Official names of South Africa) is the country at the southern tip of Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean oceans and Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho, an independent enclave surrounded by South African territory. South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, due to its having the largest economy in Africa, is the most socially, economically and infrastructurally developed country on the continent.

South Africa has experienced a different history from other nations in Africa because of early immigration from Europe and the strategic importance of the History of Cape Colony. European immigration began shortly after the Dutch East India Company founded a station at what would become Cape Town, in 1652. The closure of the Suez Canal during the Six-Day War exemplified its significance to East-West trade. The country's relatively developed infrastructure made its mineral wealth available and important to Western world interests, particularly throughout the late nineteenth century and, with international competition and rivalry, during the Cold War. South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest Whites in South Africa, Asians in South Africa, and Coloured communities in Africa. Black people South Africans, who speak nine officially recognised languages, and many more dialects, account for slightly less than 80% of the population.

Racial strife between the white minority and the black majority has played a large part in South Africa's History of South Africa and Politics of South Africa, culminating in History of South Africa in the apartheid era, which was instituted in 1948 by the National Party (South Africa) (although Racial segregation existed before that time). The laws that defined apartheid began to be repealed or abolished by the National Party in 1990, after a long and sometimes violent struggle (including economic sanctions from the international community) by the Black majority as well as many White, Coloured, and Indian South Africans.

Several philosophies and ideologies have developed in South Africa, including Ubuntu (ideology) (the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity) and Jan Smuts's holism.

Regular Elections in South Africas have been held for almost a century; but the majority of South Africans were not enfranchisement until 1994.

South Africa is often called the "Rainbow Nation", a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later adopted by then President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. Mandela used the term "Rainbow Nation" as a metaphor to describe the country's newly developing multicultural diversity after segregationist apartheid ideology. The country's socially progressive policies are rare in Africa, for example, by 2007, the country had joined Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, and parts of the United States in legalising same-sex marriage.

History South Africa contains some of the oldest and most beautiful archaeological sites in Africa. Extensive fossil remains at the Sterkfontein, Kromdraai, Gauteng and Makapansgat caves suggest that various australopithecus existed in South Africa from about three million years ago. These were succeeded by various species of Homo, including Homo habilis, Homo erectus and modern man, Homo sapiens. Bantu languages-speaking Bantu peoples of South Africa, iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen, moved south of the Limpopo River into modern-day South Africa by the fourth or fifth century (the Bantu#Bantu expansion) displacing the original Khoi and San speakers. They slowly moved south and the earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal are believed to date from around 1050. The southernmost group was the Xhosa people, whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the earlier Khoi and San people, reaching the Great Fish River, in today's Eastern Cape. These Iron Age populations displaced earlier hunter-gatherer peoples as they migrated.







, the first European to settle in South Africa, with Devil's Peak (Cape Town) in the background.

The written is largely thein which the history of South Africa begins with the arrival of the Portuguese. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to reach the southernmost tip of Africa. When he returned to Lisbon carrying news of the discovery, which he called Cabo das Tormentas (Cape of Storms) due to the stormy conditions he had encountered in the region, his royal sponsor, John II of Portugal, chose a different name, Cabo da Boa Esperança or Cape of Good Hope, for it promised a sea route to the riches of India then being sought by Portugal. Later, the great Portuguese poet Camoens immortalized Dias' voyage in the epic poem The Lusiads, specifically via the mythological character, Adamastor, which symbolizes the forces of nature the Portuguese navigators had to overcome during the circumnavigation of the cape.

Along with the accounts of the early navigators, the accounts of shipwreck survivors provide the earliest written accounts of Southern Afsdi;okjf;'lsrica. In the two centuries following 1488, a number of small fishing settlements were made along the coast by Portuguese sailors, but no written account of these settlements survives. In 1652 a victualling station was established at the Cape of Good Hope by Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the slowly-expanding settlement was a Netherlands possession. The Dutch settlers eventually met the south-westerly expanding Xhosa people in the region of the Great Fish River. A series of wars, called Xhosa Wars, ensued, mainly caused by conflicting land and livestock interests.

To ease Cape labour shortages slavery were brought from Indonesia, Madagascar, and India. Furthermore, troublesome leaders, often of royal descent, were banished from Dutch colonies to South Africa. This group of slaves eventually gave rise to a population that now identifies themselves as "Cape Malays". Cape Malays have traditionally been accorded a higher social status by the European colonists — many became wealthy landowners, but became increasingly dispossessed as History of South Africa in the apartheid era developed. Cape Malay mosques in District Six, Cape Town were spared, and now serve as monuments for the destruction that occurred around them.

Most of the descendants of these slaves, who often married with Dutch settlers, were later classified together with the remnants of the Khoikhoi (aka Khoisan) as Cape Coloureds. Further intermingling within the Cape Coloureds population itself, as well as with Xhosa and other South African people, now means that they constitute roughly 50% of the population in the Western Cape.Kingdom of Great Britain seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1795 ostensibly to stop it falling into the hands of the French, but also seeking to use Cape Town in particular as a stop on the route to Australia and India. It was returned to the Dutch in 1803, but soon afterwards the Dutch East India Company declared bankruptcy, and the British annexed the Cape Colony in 1806. The British continued the frontier wars against the Xhosa, pushing the eastern frontier eastward through a line of forts established along the Fish River and consolidating it by encouraging 1820 Settlers. Due to pressure of Abolitionism societies in Britain, the British parliament first stopped its global History of slavery in 1807, then abolished slavery in all its colonies in 1833.

The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886 encouraged economic growth and immigration, intensifying the subjugation of the natives. The Boers successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, much better suited to local conditions. However, the British returned in greater numbers without their red jackets in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The Boers' attempt to ally themselves with German South-West Africa provided the British with yet another excuse to take control of the Boer Republics.

civilians watching United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland soldiers burn down their house: Boers were given 10 minutes to gather belongings

The Boers resisted fiercely, but the British eventually overwhelmed the Boer forces, using their superior numbers, improved tactics and external supply chains. Also during this war, the British used controversial Internment#Concentration camp and scorched earth tactics, forcing whole families into crowded tents and burning their houses. Crops were burnt and all livestock slaughtered to demoralize the resisting Boers. The appalling conditions in British concentration camps were brought to light by Welfare Campaigner Emily Hobhouse in her report "Report of a Visit to the Camps of Women and Children in the Cape and Orange River Colonies". Maltreatment and undernourishment were common in camps. Food was often poisoned and glass pieces and hooks were found in many rations. The death toll reached 26,370 of which 24,000 were children.

The Treaty of Vereeniging specified full British sovereignty over the South African republics, and the British government agreed to assume the British Pound3 000 000 war debt owed by the Afrikaner governments. One of the main conditions by the of the treaty ending the war was that 'Blacks' would not be allowed to vote, except in the Cape Colony.

After four years of negotiations, the Union of South Africa was created from the Cape Colony and Colony of Natal colonies, as well as the republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal, on May 31, 1910, exactly eight years after the end of the Second Boer War. The newly-created Union of South Africa was a dominion. In 1934, the South African Party (Union of South Africa) and National Party (South Africa) merged to form the United Party (South Africa), seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English language-speaking 'Whites', but split in 1939 over the Union's entry into World War II as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which the National Party strongly opposed.

In 1948 the National Party (South Africa) was elected to power, and began History of South Africa in the apartheid era that would become known collectively as History of South Africa in the apartheid era. Not surprisingly, this segregation also applied to the wealth acquired during rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, often comparable to "First World" western nations, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. However, the average income and life expectancy of a black, 'Indian' or 'coloured' South African compared favourably to many other African states, such as Ghana and Tanzania as education and health were provided, though selectively.

Apartheid became increasingly controversial, leading to widespread International sanctions and divestment abroad and growing unrest and oppression within South Africa. (See also the article on the History of South Africa in the apartheid era.) A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, Strike actions, marches, protests, and sabotage by bombing and other means, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National Congress (ANC), followed. In the late 1970s, South Africa began a program of nuclear weapons, and in the following decade it produced six deliverable nuclear weapons. The rationale for the nuclear arsenal is disputed, but it is believed that B.J. Vorster and Pieter Willem Botha wanted to be able to catalyse United States intervention in the event of a war between South Africa and the Cuban-supported Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola government of Angola.

In 1990 the National Party government took the first step towards negotiating itself out of power when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress and other Left-wing politics political organisations, and released Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years' incarceration on a sabotage sentence. Apartheid legislation was gradually removed from the statute books, and South Africa also destroyed its nuclear arsenal and acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The first South African general election, 1994 were held in 1994, which the ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since.

Despite the end of apartheid, millions of South Africans, mostly black, continue to live in poverty. This is partly attributed to the legacy of the apartheid system and, increasingly, what many see as the failure of the current government to tackle social issues, coupled with the monetary and fiscal discipline of the current government to ensure both redistribution of wealth and economic growth. In the ten years since the ANC government took power, South Africa's United Nations Human Development Index has fallen dramatically, while it was steadily rising until the mid-1990s. Much of this could be attributed to the AIDS pandemic and the government's failure to take steps to address it. However, the ANC's social housing policy has produced some improvement in living conditions in many areas by redirecting fiscal spending and improving the efficiency of the tax collection system.

Government and politics , the administrative capital of South AfricaSouth Africa is the only nation in the world with 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 ninety members of the National Council of Provinces (the upper house); and the four hundred members of the National Assembly of South Africa (the lower house). Members of the lower house are elected on a population basis by proportional representation: half of the members are elected from national lists and half are elected from provincial lists. Ten members are elected to represent each province in the National Council of Provinces, regardless of the population of the province. Elections for both chambers are held every five years. The government is formed in the upper house, and the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly is the President of South Africa.

Current South African politics are dominated by the African National Congress (ANC), which received 69.7% of the vote during the last South African general election, 2004 and 66.3% of the vote in the South African municipal election, 2006. The current (2004-2009 term) President of South Africa is Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded former President Nelson Mandela. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance (South Africa) party, which received 12.4% of the vote in the 2004 election and 14.8% in the 2006 election. The leader of this party is Helen Zille (elected May 6, 2007). The previous leader of the party was Tony Leon. The formerly dominant New National Party (South Africa), which introduced apartheid through its predecessor, the National Party (South Africa), suffered increasing humiliation at election polls since 1994, and finally voted to disband. It chose to merge with the ANC on 9 April 2005. Other major political parties represented in Parliament are the Inkatha Freedom Party, which mainly represents Zulu voters, and the Independent Democrats (South Africa), who took 6.97% and 1.7% of the vote respectively, in the 2004 election.

However since 2004 the country has suffered many thousands of popular protests, some violent, making it, according to one academic, the "most protest rich country in the world.". Many of these protests have been organised from the growing shanty towns that surround South African cities.

Law The primary sources of South Africa law were Roman-Dutch mercantile law and personal law with English Common law, as imports of Dutch settlements and British colonialism. The first European based law in South Africa was brought by the Dutch East India Company and is called Roman-Dutch law. It was imported before the codification of European law into the Napoleonic Code and is comparable in many ways to Scots law. This was followed in the 19th century by Law of the United Kingdom both Common law and Statutory law. Starting in 1910 with unification, South Africa had its own parliament which passed laws specific for South Africa, building on those previously passed for the individual member colonies.

Provinces, districts and municipalities ]

When apartheid ended in 1994, the South African government had to integrate the formerly independent and semi-independent Bantustans into the political structure of South Africa. To this end, it abolished the four former provinces of South Africa (Cape Province, Natal Province, Orange Free State, and Transvaal) and replaced them with nine fully integrated provinces. The new provinces are usually much smaller than the former provinces, which theoretically gives local governments more resources to distribute over smaller areas.

The nine provinces are further subdivided into Districts of South Africa: Metropolitan municipality (South Africa) and District municipality (South Africa). The 46 district municipalities are further subdivided into Local municipality (South Africa). The district municipalities also contain 20 district management areas (mostly game parks) that are directly governed by the district municipalities. The six metropolitan municipalities perform the functions of both district and local municipalities. The new provinces are:

Geography South Africa is located at the southernmost region of Africa, with a long coastline that stretches more than 2500 kilometres (1 550 mile) and across two oceans (the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean). At 470 979 square miles (1 219 912 square kilometre), South Africa is the world's 25th-largest country (after Mali). It is comparable in size to Colombia. Njesuthi in the Drakensberg at 3 408 m (11,424 ft) is the highest peak in South Africa.

South Africa has a generally temperate climate, due in part to it being surrounded by the Atlantic and 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.

The climatic zones vary, from the extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropics climate in the east along the Mozambique border and the Indian Ocean ocean. From the east, the land quickly rises over a mountain range escarpment towards the interior plateau known as the Highveld. Even though South Africa is classified as semi-arid, there is considerable variation in climate as well as topography.

The interior of South Africa is a vast, rather flat, and sparsely populated scrubland, Karoo, which is drier towards the northwest along the Namib desert. In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well-watered, which produces a climate similar to the tropics. The extreme southwest has a climate remarkably similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous Fynbos Biome. This area also produces much of South Africa's wine. This region is also particularly known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the country's south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. This area is popularly known as the Garden Route.

The Free State is particularly flat due to the fact that it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at 1740 metres (5 709 foot (unit of length)) and receives an annual rainfall of 760 millimetres (30 inch). Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare.

To the north of Johannesburg, the altitude drops beyond the Highveld's escarpment, and turns into the lower lying Bushveld, an area of mixed dry forest and an abundance of wildlife. East of the Highveld, beyond the eastern escarpment, the Lowveld stretches towards the Indian Ocean ocean. It has particularly high temperatures, and is also the location of extended subtropical agriculture. The mountains of the Barberton Greenstone belt in the lowveld are the oldest mountains on Earth, dating back 3.5 Billion years. The earliest reliable proof of life (dated 3.2–3.5 Billion years old) has been found in these mountains.

The high Drakensberg, which form the south-eastern escarpment of the Highveld, offer limited skiing opportunities in winter. Many people think that the coldest place in South Africa is Sutherland, South Africa in the western Roggeveld Mountains, where midwinter temperatures can reach as low as −15 degrees Celsius (5 °Fahrenheit). In fact, the coldest place is actually Buffelsfontein, which is in the Molteno district of the Eastern Cape. Buffelsfontein recorded a low of −18.6 degrees Celsius (-1.5 °Fahrenheit).{{cite web|url=http://www.weathersa.co.za/Pressroom/2005/2005Jun30ColdestPlaceInSA.jsp|title=Coldest Place in South Africa|publisher=Weather SA|date=30 June 2005--> The deep interior has the hottest temperatures: A temperature of 51.7 °C (125 °F) was recorded in 1948 in the Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington. SouthAfrica.info: South Africa's geography

South Africa also has one possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island (290 km²/112 mi²) and Prince Edward Island (45 km²/17.3 mi²) (not to be confused with the Prince Edward Island).

Flora and fauna , a floristic province unique to South Africa, is found near Cape Town

South Africa is one of only 17 countries worldwide considered Megadiverse countries. It has 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. South Africa is the third most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Indonesia and has greater biodiversity than any country of equal or smaller size (Brazil being roughly seven times South Africa's size, and Indonesia more than 50% larger).

South Africa's most prevalent biome is grassland, particularly on the Highveld, where the plant cover is dominated by different Poaceae, low shrubs, and acacia trees, mainly camel-thorn and whitethorn. Vegetation becomes even more sparse towards the northwest due to low precipitation (meteorology). There are several species of water-storing succulents like aloes and euphorbias in the very hot and dry Namaqualand area. The grass and thorn savannah turns slowly into a bush savannah towards the north-east of the country, with more dense growth. There are significant numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern end of Kruger National Park. Plants and Vegetation in South Africa, South Africa Online Travel Guide.

The Fynbos Biome, which makes up the majority of the area and plant life in the Cape floristic region, one of the six floristic provinces, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and contains more than 9,000 of those species, making it among the richest regions on earth in terms of floral biodiversity. The majority of the plants are evergreen hard-leaf plants with fine, needle-like leaf, such as the sclerophyllous plants. Another uniquely South African plant is the protea genus of flowering plants. There are around 130 different species of protea in South Africa.

While South Africa has a great wealth of flowering plants, it has few forests. Only 1% of South Africa is forest, almost exclusively in the humid coastal plain along the Indian Ocean in KwaZulu-Natal (see KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic). There are even smaller reserves of forests that are out of the reach of fire, known as montane forests (see Knysna-Amatole montane forests). Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly the non-native eucalyptus and pine. South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades, primarily due to overpopulation, sprawling development patterns and deforestation during the nineteenth century. South Africa is one of the worst affected countries in the world when it comes to invasion by alien species with many (e.g. Acacia mearnsii, Acacia saligna, Hakea, Lantana and Jacaranda) posing a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the already scarce water resources. The original temperate forest that met the first European settlers to South Africa was exploited ruthlessly until only small patches remained. Currently, South African hardwood trees like Real Yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius), Ocotea bullata (Ocotea bullata), and South African Black Ironwood (Olea laurifolia) are under government protection.

Numerous mammals are found in the bushveld habitats including lion, leopard, White Rhino, Blue Wildebeest, kudu, impala, hyena, hippopotamus, and giraffe. A significant extent of the bushveld habitat exists in the north-east including Kruger National Park and the Mala Mala Reserve, as well as in the far north in the Waterberg Biosphere.

Mpumalanga, previously known as the Eastern Transvaal has much in the way to offer, from scenery, to ancient history and the big 5. With hundreds of species of birds, mammals and reptiles it is the Safari destination of choice. Visit Mpumalanga to find out more about the Bio Diversity, the culture, The history and the amazing scenery of this area.

Climate change is expected to bring considerable warming and drying to much of this already semi-arid region, with greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, flooding and drought. According to computer generated climate modelling produced by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) South African National Biodiversity Institute. (along with many of its partner institutions), parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about one degree Celsius along the coast to more than four degrees Celsius in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050.

The Cape Floral Kingdom has been identified as one of the global biodiversity hotspots since it will be hit very hard by climate change and has such a great diversity of life. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire and climbing temperatures are expected to push many of these rare species towards extinction. The book Scorched : South Africa's changing climate takes much of the modelling produced by SANBI and presents it in an accessible travelogue-style collection of essays. Scorched: South Africa’s changing climate.

South Africa houses many endemic species, among them the critically endangered Riverine Rabbit (Bunolagus monticullaris) in the Karoo.

Economy in Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background. Cape Town has become an important retail and tourism centre for the country, and attracts the largest number of foreign visitors in South Africa

By UN classification South Africa is a middle-income country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange (the JSE Securities Exchange), that ranks among the top twenty in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres throughout the region. South Africa is ranked 24th in the world in terms of GDP, corrected for purchasing power parity.

In many respects, South Africa is under-developed, however; advanced development is significantly localised around four areas, namely Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Pretoria/Johannesburg. Beyond these four economic centres, development is marginal and poverty still reigns despite government efforts. Consequently the vast majority of South Africans are poor. However, key marginal areas are experiencing rapid growth recently. Such areas include: Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay; Rustenburg area; Nelspruit area; Bloemfontein; Cape West Coast; KwaZulu-Natal North Coast amongst others.

Large income gaps and a dual economy designate South Africa as a developing country. South Africa has one of the highest rates of List of countries by income equality in the world. The white South African minority tends to be considerably wealthier than the rest of the population. A decade of continual economic growth has helped to lower unemployment, but daunting economic problems remain. The average South African household income considerably decreased between 1995 and 2000. As to racial inequality, Statistics South Africa reported that in 1995 the average white household earned 4 times as much as the average African household. In 2000 the average white household was earning 6 times the average African household. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS.

At the start of 2000, President Thabo Mbeki vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment by relaxing restrictive labour laws, stepping up the pace of privatisation, and cutting unneeded governmental spending. His policies face strong opposition from organised labour movement. South Africa is also the continent's largest energy producer and consumer.

The South African South African rand (ZAR), the world's most actively-traded emerging market currency, has joined an elite club of fifteen currencies, the Continuous linked settlement (CLS), where forex transactions are settled immediately, lowering the risks of transacting across time zones. The South African rand was the best-performing currency against the United States dollar (USD) between 2002 and 2005, according to the Bloomberg L.P. Currency Scorecard.

The volatility of the South African rand has affected economic activity, with the rand falling sharply during 2001, hitting an historic low of 13.85 ZAR to the U.S. dollar, raising fears of inflation, and causing the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates. The rand has since recovered, trading at 7.14 ZAR to the dollar as of September 2007 while the South African Reserve Bank's policy of inflation targeting has brought inflation under control. The stronger rand has however put exporters under considerable pressure, with many calling for government to intervene in the exchange rate to help soften the rand, and many others dismissing staff.

Refugees from poorer neighbouring countries abound with immigrants from the DRC, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi and many others representing a large portion of the informal sector. With high unemployment levels amongst poorer South Africans, xenophobia is a very real fear and many people born in South Africa feel resentful of immigrants who are seen to be depriving the native population of jobs, a feeling which has been given credibility by the fact that many South African employers have employed migrants from other countries for lower pay than South African citizens, especially in the construction, tourism, agriculture and domestic service industries. Illegal immigrants are also heavily involved in informal trading. African Security Review Vol 5 No 4, 1996: Strategic Perspectives on Illegal Immigration into South Africa However, many immigrants to South Africa continue to live in poor conditions, and the South African immigration policy has become increasingly restrictive since 1994. Queens College: The Brain Gain: Skilled Migrants and Immigration Policy in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Agriculture .South Africa has a large agricultural sector and is a net exporter of farming products. There are almost a thousand agricultural cooperatives and agribusinesses throughout the country, and agricultural exports have constituted 8% of South Africa's total exports for the past five years. The agricultural industry contributes around 10% of formal employment, relatively low compared to other parts of Africa, as well as providing work for casual labourers and contributing around 2.6% of Gross Domestic Product for the nation.Human Rights Watch, 2001. Unequal Protection: The State Response to Violent Crime on South African Farms, ISBN 1-56432-263-7. However, due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% can be used for crop production, and only 3% is considered high potential land. Mohamed, Najma. 2000. "Greening Land and Agrarian Reform: A Case for Sustainable Agriculture", in At the Crossroads: Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa into the 21st Century, ed. Cousins, Ben. Bellville, School of Government, University of the Western Cape. ISBN 1-86808-467-1.

Although the commercial farming sector is relatively well developed, people in some rural areas still survive on subsistence agriculture. It is the eighth largest wine producer in the world, and the eleventh largest producer of sunflower seed. South Africa is a net exporter of agricultural products and foodstuffs, the largest number of exported items being sugar, grapes, citrus, nectarines, winemaking and deciduous fruit. The largest locally produced crop is maize (corn), and it has been estimated that 9 million tons are produced every year, with 7.4 million tons being consumed. Livestock are also popular on South African farms, with the country producing 85% of all meat consumed. The dairy industry consists of around 4,300 milk producers providing employment for 60,000 farm workers and contributing to the livelihoods of around 40,000 others.

In recent years, the agricultural sector has introduced several reforms, some of which are controversial, such as land reform and the deregulation of the market for agricultural products. Land reform has been criticised both by farmers' groups and by landless workers, the latter alleging that the pace of change has not been fast enough, and the former alleging racist treatment and expressing concerns that a similar situation to Land reform in Zimbabwe may develop, South Africa's bitter harvest. a fear exacerbated by comments made by the country's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. South Africans' long wait for land, BBC News. SA 'to learn from' land seizures, BBC News. The sector continues to face problems, with increased foreign competition and crime being two of the major challenges for the industry. The government has been accused of not devoting enough time and money to tackle the problem of South African farm attacks as opposed to other forms of violent crime. Farms of Fear, The Sunday Times Magazine.

Another issue which affects South African agriculture is environmental damage caused by misuse of the land and global climate change. South Africa is unusually vulnerable to climate change and resultant diminution of surface waters. Some predictions shows surface water supply could decrease by 60% by the year 2070 in parts of the Western Cape. Climate change to create African 'water refugees' – scientists, Reuters Alertnet. Accessed 21 September 2006. To reverse the damage caused by land mismanagement, the government has supported a scheme which promotes [sustainable development and the use of natural resources. Department of Agriculture South Africa.

Demographics {{USCensusPop|1900 = 5014000|1910 = 5842000|1920 = 6953000|1930 = 8580000|1940 = 10341000|1950 = 13310000|1960 = 16385000|1970 = 21794000|1980 = 24261000|1990 = 37944000|2000 = 43686000| estimate= 48000000| estyear= 2007| estref=| footnote=http://populstat.info/Africa/souafrica.htm-->South Africa is a nation of more than 47 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and beliefs. The last South African National Census of 2001 was held in 2001 and the next will be in 2011. Statistics South Africa provided five race categories by which people could classify themselves, the last of which, "unspecified/other" drew negligible responses, and these results were omitted. Census 2001, Statistics South Africa. The 2006 midyear estimated figures for the other categories were Black (people) at 79.5%, Whites in South Africa at 9.2%, Coloured at 8.9%, and Asians in South Africa at 2.5%.{{cite web|url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022006.pdf|title=Midyear population estimates, South Africa|format=PDF|date=2006|publisher=Statistics South Africa--> South Africa has a yearly population growth rate of −0.46%.{{cite web|url=http://www.xist.org/earth/pop_growth.aspx|title=The demographic status of the world's population|work = Global Statistics |publisher=GeoHive -->

By far the major part of the population classified itself as African or black, but it is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous. Major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho (South Sotho), Bapedi (North Sotho), Venda people, Tswana, Shangaan, Swazi and Ndebele people (South Africa), all of which speak Bantu languages (see Bantu peoples of South Africa).

Some, such as the Zulu, Xhosa, Bapedi and Venda groups, are unique to South Africa. Other groups are distributed across the borders with South Africa's neighbours: The Basotho group is also the major ethnic group in Lesotho. The Tswana ethnic group constitute the majority of the population of Botswana. The Swazi ethnic group is the major ethnic group in Swaziland. The Ndebele people (South Africa) ethnic group is also found in Matabeleland in Zimbabwe, where they are known as the Ndebele people (Zimbabwe). These Ndebele people are however in effect Zulu people because the language they speak is Zulu and they are the descendants of a faction under the warrior Mzilikazi that escaped persecution from Shaka by migrating to their current territory. The Shangaan ethnic group is also found in southern Mozambique, where they are known as the Shangaan.

The white population descends largely from colonial immigrants: Netherlands, Germany, France Huguenot, and United Kingdom. Culturally and linguistically, they are divided into the Afrikaners, who speak Afrikaans, and English language-speaking groups, many of whom are descended from British immigrants (see Anglo African). Many small communities that have immigrated over the last century retain the use of other languages. The white population is on the decrease due to a low birth rate and emigration; as a factor in their decision to emigrate, many cite the high Crime in South Africa rate and the government's affirmative action policies. In the first decade after the ANC took power, a million whites emigrated. Fin24.

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