Southern Africa · Africa

South Africa

Discover South Africa - the Rainbow Nation of 12 official languages, Mandela's legacy, Big Five safaris, Cape Town's Table Mountain, and wine valleys that rival France.

Where Is South Africa?

South Africa is a country in Southern Africa. It has three capitals: Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial).

Where South Africa isSouthern Africa · Capital Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein

Capital Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein
Population 64.7M
Area 1,221,037 km²

South Africa is the only country in the world with three capital cities. Pretoria is the administrative capital, Cape Town the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein the judicial capital. It has 12 official languages, South African Sign Language among them since 2023. Its flag has six colors. Nothing about South Africa is simple, and that's precisely what makes it one of the most fascinating countries on Earth.

The country occupies the southern tip of Africa where the Atlantic and Indian oceans collide. Table Mountain rises flat-topped above Cape Town in one of the most spectacular urban settings anywhere. The Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa, teeming with the Big Five. The Winelands around Stellenbosch produce world-class wines. And the Drakensberg mountains form a dramatic escarpment of basalt cliffs. But South Africa's greatest story is human. The transition from apartheid to democracy, led by Nelson Mandela, was one of the most remarkable political transformations in modern history. The Rainbow Nation is messy, complicated, and still healing - but its capacity for reinvention is extraordinary.

At a glance

Language

12 official languages (Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English, Sign Language...)

Currency

South African Rand (ZAR)

Calling Code

+27

Drives On

Left

Internet

.za

Timezone

SAST (UTC+2)

Script

Latin

Government

Unitary Parliamentary Republic

Independence

1910 (Union), 1961 (Republic)

By population

Largest cities in South Africa

Johannesburg

Economic powerhouse and largest city, built on gold mining, now a vibrant metropolis of art, music, and African ambition

6,000,000

Cape Town

Legislative capital beneath Table Mountain, one of the world's most beautiful cities where mountains meet two oceans

4,800,000

Durban

Subtropical Indian Ocean port with the largest Indian diaspora outside India, famous for bunny chow and surfing

3,900,000

Pretoria

Administrative capital known as the Jacaranda City for the purple trees that line its streets every October

2,500,000

Gqeberha

Friendly City on the Sunshine Coast, gateway to malaria-free Big Five game reserves in the Eastern Cape

1,300,000

Soweto

Township that was the epicenter of the anti-apartheid struggle, home to Mandela and Tutu, now a vibrant cultural destination

1,300,000

People

Famous people from South Africa

Nelson Mandela
Politics
Anti-apartheid revolutionary imprisoned for 27 years who became South Africa's first Black president and a global symbol of reconciliation
Desmond Tutu
Politics
Nobel Peace Prize-winning archbishop who coined the term Rainbow Nation and chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Miriam Makeba
Music
Mama Africa, whose Pata Pata and anti-apartheid activism made her one of the most influential African musicians worldwide
J.M. Coetzee
Literature
Nobel Prize-winning novelist of Disgrace and Waiting for the Barbarians, the first author to win the Booker Prize twice
Elon Musk
Business
Born in Pretoria, founded SpaceX, co-founded Tesla and PayPal, becoming one of the most influential entrepreneurs in history
Caster Semenya
Sport
Two-time Olympic 800m champion whose dominance and fight against testosterone regulations became a landmark case in athletics
Nadine Gordimer
Literature
Nobel Prize-winning author whose novels chronicled the moral complexities of life under apartheid
Christiaan Barnard
Science
Performed the world's first successful human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town in 1967

Food

Traditional cuisine of South Africa

Braai: South African barbecue that is a national institution - not just cooking but a social ritual with boerewors, steak, and chakalaka
Biltong: Air-dried cured meat seasoned with vinegar, salt, and spices, South Africa's beloved snack far superior to ordinary jerky
Bobotie: Cape Malay curried mince baked with an egg custard topping, South Africa's national dish with roots in the spice trade
Bunny Chow: Durban's legendary street food - a hollowed-out bread loaf filled with spicy curry, created by the Indian community
Boerewors: Coiled spiced sausage of beef and pork grilled on the braai, the essential companion to every South African gathering
Potjiekos: Slow-cooked stew in a cast-iron three-legged pot over coals, layered with meat and vegetables for hours
Melktert: Milk tart with a cinnamon-dusted custard filling in a sweet pastry crust, the beloved Afrikaner teatime treat
Amarula: Cream liqueur made from the fruit of the marula tree, which elephants famously feast on during fruiting season

Nature

Nature and landmarks in South Africa

Table MountainMountain: Flat-topped icon of Cape Town rising 1,085 meters, one of the New7Wonders of Nature with unique fynbos vegetation
Kruger National ParkNational Park: One of the largest game reserves in Africa, home to the Big Five and over 500 bird species across 19,000 square kilometers
Drakensberg MountainsMountain: Dramatic basalt escarpment with 3,000-meter peaks, San rock art, and hiking trails through the uKhahlamba World Heritage Site
Cape of Good HopeCoast: Dramatic rocky headland where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean, with colonies of baboons and penguins
Garden RouteCoast: 300-kilometer stretch of coastline from Mossel Bay to Storms River, with forests, lagoons, and the Tsitsikamma coast
Blyde River CanyonCanyon: Third largest canyon in the world and the largest green canyon, with the Three Rondavels and God's Window viewpoint
Kgalagadi Transfrontier ParkNational Park: Vast semi-desert park straddling South Africa and Botswana, famous for black-maned Kalahari lions and desert-adapted wildlife
iSimangaliso Wetland ParkNational Park: UNESCO World Heritage site where hippos, crocodiles, and whale sharks share Africa's largest estuarine system

Sport

Sports in South Africa

Rugby Union: Springboks have won four Rugby World Cups (1995, 2007, 2019, 2023), with the 1995 victory symbolizing post-apartheid unity
Cricket: Proteas are consistently one of the top-ranked cricket teams in the world, producing legends like Jacques Kallis
Football: Hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first African nation to do so, with the vuvuzela becoming a global phenomenon
Swimming: Produced Olympic champions like Chad le Clos and Tatjana Schoenmaker, punching above weight in international swimming

Facts

Did you know?

South Africa is the only country in the world with three capital cities - Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein
The country has 12 official languages - in 2023 South African Sign Language became the twelfth
Table Mountain is estimated to be one of the oldest mountains in the world at roughly 600 million years old
South Africa is home to the world's largest verified meteor impact structure - the Vredefort Crater, over 2 billion years old
The first successful human heart transplant was performed in Cape Town by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in 1967
South Africa once produced two-thirds of the world's gold and is still the world's largest producer of platinum
The country has the third highest level of biodiversity in the world, with the Cape Floral Kingdom being the smallest but richest
Boulders Beach near Cape Town has a colony of African penguins that swim in waters warmed by the Indian Ocean current