ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF SOUTH AFRICA

The country’s Constitution guarantees equal status to 11 official languages to cater for the country’s diverse peoples and their cultures. These are:

• Afrikaans
• English
• IsiNdebele
• IsiXhosa
• IsiZulu
• Sepedi
• Sesotho
• Setswana
• SiSwati
• Tshivenda
• Xitsonga

Other languages spoken in South Africa and mentioned in the Constitution are the Khoi, Nama and San languages, sign language, Arabic, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu. There are also a few indigeneous creoles and pidgins.

English is generally understood across the country, being the language of business, politics and the media, and the country’s lingua franca. But it is only spoken in 5 out of 11 homes.

South Africa linguistic diversity means all 11 languages have had a profound effect on each other. South African English, for example, uses a lot of words and phrases from Afrikaans, Isizulu, Nama and other African languages. And Africa-language speakers often use English and African words too.

LANGUAGE DISTRIBUTION

According to the 2001 census, Isizulu is the mother tongue of 23.8% of South Africa’s population, followed by Isixhosa at 17.6%, Afrikaans at 13.3%, Sepedi at 9.4%, and English and Setswana each at 8.2%.

Sesotho is the mother tongue of 7.9% of South Africans, while the remaining four official languages are spoken at home by less than 5% of the population each.

IsiZulu,isiXhosa, Siswati and IsiNdebele are collectively referred to as Nguni languages, and have many similarities in syntax and grammar. The Sotho languages- Setswana, Sepedi and Sesotho- also have much in common.

According to historical data, many of South Africa’s indigenous tribes share a common ancestry. But, as grouping and clans broke up in search of autonomy, variations of the common languages evolved.

South Africa's capital

Unlike other countries of the world, three cities act as South Africa capital.

The Republic of South Africa vests its executive, legislative and judicial authorities in three separate cities. Pretoria functions as the executive capital, Bloemfontein as the judicial, while the legislative powers are vested in Cape Town.

South Africa Capital-Legislative

Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It also serves as the provincial capital of Western Cape. As the legislative capital of South Africa, Cape Town houses several government offices including the National Parliament.

Cape Town is locally governed by a metropolitan municipality, which is known by the name City of Cape Town. A city council is responsible for governing the regular activities of the city.

South Africa Capital-Executive

Pretoria serves as the administrative or the executive capital of South Africa. Pretoria falls within the Gauteng province of South Africa. At times Pretoria also servers as the de facto capital of South Africa. Pretoria is famous for being the seat of higher learning in South Africa. The largest residential university of South Africa is located in Pretoria.

Pretoria is also the hub of industrial activities of South Africa. Automobile, machinery, iron and steel are the main industries that flourish in this city.

South Africa Capital-Judicial

Bloemfontein is the judicial capital of South Africa. This city has earned a reputation for the beautiful flowers that grow in this city. Bloemfontein is located in the Manguang Local Municipality. Bloemfontein is also an important educational center of South Africa with several large schools and universities.

South African capitals are also important tourist destinations, thronged by tourists across the globe.

Other General Facts

South Africa is ruled by a Republican governent whose current president is Jacob Zuma.
The monetary unit is the rand (zar) which is divided into 100 cents. It's current exchange rate is 1€ = 11,90Z

The South African flag has 6 colours: black, gold, green, red, white and blue.

It became the national flag on 27th April 1994 coinciding with the first democratic elections in which Nelson Mandela was made president.
Green, black and gold are typical colours used by African people while the colours red, white and blue are common in colonial flags of Britain and Holland aswell as in historical flags of South Africa.
The design of the flag has different interpretations depending on the ethnic groups but the general interpretation is the idea of unification. The green "Y" which starts at the flag's post and comes together in the centre of the flag is seen as the coming together of the different people of South Africa who then take the road ahead together.

The time difference is UTC + 2 which means that now South Africa is one hour ahead of Spain. In summer, the time difference would be of two hours.

South Africa's population

South Africa's population

South Africa is a nation of over 47-million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages and beliefs.
According to the mid-2007 estimates from Statistics South Africa, the country's population stands at some 47.9-million, up from the census 2001 count of 44.8-million.

South Africa's population by race

Africans are in the majority at just over 38-million. Black people make up 79.6% of South Africa's population. The Blacks belong to several ethnic groups such as the Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Sotho, Tswana, and Swazi. The Zulu are the largest of these groups, making up about 22% of the black population.

There are some white skinned South Africans too. The white population is estimated at 4.3-million (9.1%). Another group of people in South Africa are known as the Coloured people and are of mixed racial origin, mainly black and white. The coloured population at 4.2-million (8.9%) and the Indian/Asian population at just short of 1.2-million (2.5%).


South Africa has a multiracial and multiethnic population. The reason why South Africa is so heterogeneous is because people came to the country from all different places such as Western Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and other parts of Africa itself. While more than three-quarters of South Africa's population is black African, this category is neither culturally nor linguistically homogenous.

South Africa's population by language

Nine of the country's 11 official languages are African, reflecting a variety of ethnic groupings which nonetheless have a great deal in common in terms of background, culture and descent.
Africans include the Nguni people, comprising the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi; the Sotho-Tswana people, comprising the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana); the Tsonga; and the Venda.
White, 'Coloured', Asian South AfricansSouth Africa's white population descends largely from the colonial immigrants of the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries - Dutch, German, French Huguenot and British. Linguistically it is divided into Afrikaans- and English-speaking groups, although many small communities that have immigrated over the last century retain the use of other languages.
The label "coloured" is a contentious one, but still used for people of mixed race descended from slaves brought in from East and central Africa, the indigenous Khoisan who lived in the Cape at the time, indigenous Africans and whites. The majority speak Afrikaans.
The original inhabitants: now a tiny community in the Kalahari Desert, the San once had southern Africa to themselves
Khoisan is a term used to describe two separate groups, physically similar in being light-skinned and small in stature. The Khoi, who were called Hottentots by the Europeans, were pastoralists and were effectively annihilated; the San, called Bushmen by the Europeans, were hunter-gatherers. A small San population still lives in South Africa.

The majority of South Africa's Asian population is Indian in origin, many of them descended from indentured workers brought to work on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area then known as Natal in the 19th century. They are largely English-speaking, although many also retain the languages of their origins. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans.

Religions in South Africa

In terms of religious affiliation, about two-thirds of South Africans are Christian, mainly Protestant. They belong to a variety of churches, including many that combine Christian and traditional African beliefs. Many non-Christians espouse these traditional beliefs. Other significant religions are Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.

South Africa - Area of the country

The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and it´s surface is 1.219.912 km², it´s two and a half times bigger than Spain, as large as Colombia, and much smaller than India.

It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and by the Indian Ocean on the south and east. Its neighbors are Namibia in the northwest, Zimbabwe and Botswana in the north, and Mozambique and Swaziland in the northeast. The kingdom of Lesotho forms an enclave within the southeast part of South Africa, which occupies an area nearly three times that of California.

The southernmost point of Africa is Cape Agulhas, located in the Western Cape Province about 100 mi (161 km) southeast of the Cape of Good Hope.

Other large cities: Durban/Pinetown, 2,396,100; Johannesburg, 1,675,200; East Rand, 1,378,792 (part of Johannesburg metro. area, 2000 est.)