In this post, I’ve shared some of the interesting facts about South Africa.
South Africa, formally known as the Republic of South Africa (RSA). South Africa is a multiethnic society with a diverse range of cultures, languages, and religions. The constitution recognizes 11 official languages. According to the 2011 census, the two most widely spoken first languages in South Africa are Zulu (22.7 %) and Xhosa (16.0 % ). The two following are of European origin: Afrikaans (13.5 %) arose from Dutch and is the native language of the majority of Coloured and White South Africans. English (9.6 %) symbolizes the history of British colonization and is widely used in public and business society.
27 Interesting Facts about South Africa
- South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa.
2. South Africa is the world’s 24th most populated country, with a population of over 60 million people (as of April 2022, according to World Population Review).
3. South Africa is the only country in the world with 3 capital cities, with the executive, judicial, and legislative arms of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town. a one-of-a-kind system meant to share responsibilities and power across regions.
4. Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa, with a population of around 4.5 million residents.
5. Black South Africans make up around 80% of the population. The remainder of the population is made up of the country’s biggest groups of European (White South Africans), Asian (Indian and Chinese South Africans), and Multiracial (Coloured South Africans) ancestry.
6. Zulu is South Africa’s most spoken first language followed by Xhosa, Afrikaans and English.
7. South Africa is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and G20. and it has significant regional influence.
8. South Africa is a developing country, with a Human Development Index ranking of 114th. The World Bank has classed it as a newly industrialised country, with the second-largest economy in Africa.
9. The name “South Africa” is inspired from the country’s geographical position at Africa’s southernmost tip.
10. Nelson Mandela was the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. The country’s first black president and the first to be elected in a truly representational democratic election.
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More Facts about South Africa
11. South Africa become a republic On 31 May 1961, following a referendum that was only open to white voters
12. South Africa is Africa’s only country with a commercial nuclear power plant. The two reactors of the Koeberg nuclear power station provide approximately 5% of South Africa’s electricity.
13. South Africa is ranked as the world’s 17 megadiverse countries. In recent years Ecotourism has increased in South Africa. There are 858 bird species and 299 animal species in the country. Lions, African leopards, blue wildebeest , South African cheetahs, southern white rhinos, kudus, impalas, hyenas, hippopotamuses, and South African giraffes are among the mammals found in the Bushveld.
14. South African the President is both head of state and head of government.
15. The lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly, has 400 members and is elected every five years under a system of party-list proportional representation. The upper house, the National Council of Provinces, is made up of ninety members, 10 of whom are elected by each of the nine province legislatures.
16. The South African President appoints the Deputy President and ministers to form the Cabinet.
17. South Africa has had tens of thousands of public protests, some of which have been violent, making it the most protest-rich country in the world.
18. South Africa has a high rape rate, with 43,195 rapes cases recorded in 2014/15 and an unknown number of unreported sexual assaults. One in four males admitted to raping someone in a 2009 Medical Research Council survey of 1,738 men in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, while one in three women in a CIET Africa survey of 4,000 women in Johannesburg stated they had been raped in the previous year.
19. South Africa has a very high murder rate ( Ranked 1Oth with Highest Murder Rates in the world (per 100,000 people) . From April 2017 to March 2018, South Africa saw an average of 57 murders per day. In the year that ended in March 2017, there were 20,336 murders, with a murder rate of 35.9 per 100,000 people, more than five times the world average of 6.2 per 100,000. From 1994 to 2019, more than 526,000 South Africans were murdered.
20. South Africa is the only African country to have developed nuclear weapons effectively in the 1970s. however, dismantled its program and, as a result, signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1991.
21. South Africa’s economy is mixed, and it is the second largest in Africa after Nigeria.
22. South Africa is the most popular tourist destination In Africa.
23. South Africa has long been a mining giant. The country is among the largest exporters of gold and remains a cornucopia of mineral riches. It is the greatest producer of chrome, manganese, platinum, vanadium, and vermiculite in the world. It ranks second in the production of ilmenite, palladium, rutile, and zirconium. It is also the world’s third largest exporter of coal.
24. South Africa was the first African country to host the FIFA World Cup finals in 2010, the international football federation, FIFA, chose South Africa over Egypt and Morocco.
25. South Africa is home to Africa’s largest football stadium. FNB Stadium in Johannesburg the stadium has a capacity of 94,736 people. Its greatest capacity, however, was 84,490 during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
26. South Africa boasts one of the largest transportation systems in Africa. It has 20,964 kilometers of railway tracks and transports over 530 million people per year, making it Africa’s largest and busiest network. The majority of rail passengers in South Africa use one of the five commuter train networks.
27. South Africa is home to the best Airport in Africa. Cape Town International Airport. According to the world airport awards, South has the top 3 best airports in Africa.