South Africa

How is the land laid out?

South Africa¹ consists of 1.2 million square kilometers in southern Africa, with a central hole for the nation of Lesotho, and an eastern bite for the nation of Swaziland. Much of the land is plateau, relatively high in the south--the veldt--and lower towards Botswana where it is part of the Kalahari inland basin.

The plateau is fringed in the south and east by highlands, which peak above 3,000 meters in the Drakensberg Mountains. There are also scattered ranges in the north and west. In the south the parallel ranges separate off valleys like the Great Karoo.

There are coastal plains fronting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, especially near Mozambique.² Lowlands extend inland along the Limpopo basin in the northeast. The largest bodies of water are reservoirs like Bloemhofdam on the Vaal and Gariep Dam on the Orange.

The Orange is the nation's principle river, with the Caledon and the Vaal its greatest tributaries. Numerous rivers flow to the Indian Ocean; some penetrate the mountains. The Limpopo⁴ and its tributaries like the Krokodil⁵ and the Olifants⁶ cover the northeast.

Who lives there?

South Africa's population is 2004 was nearly 47.6 million. In Northern Cape and Wester Cape provinces the majority speak Afrikaans. Languages grouped as the ‘S’ branch of Central Narrow Bantu are the majority elsewhere. No more precise generalization is possible in Mpumalanga and Gauteng,⁷ but in KwaZulu and Limpopo Province,⁸ the majority speak Zulu,⁹ and in Eastern Cape Province, Xhosa,¹⁰ which, like Zulu, is an Nguni language. In North West and Limpopo provinces, Northern Sotho,¹¹ is the main language, and in Free State Southern Sotho¹² takes this role.

About eight in ten are Christian, mostly Protestant Christians. Many Christians include older ways syncretically.

There are several cities with a million or more residents. See the Table of South African Cities

Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces
North West and Limpopo provinces
Free State
Eastern Cape Province
Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces
KwaZulu Natal Province

Footnotes

1. Afrika in Afrikaans, Southern Ndbele, Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, Northern and Southern Sotho and Tsonga; Aforika in Tswana; and Afurika in Venda.
2. Moçambique in Portuguese.
3. Oranje in Afrikaans. It is Africa's sixth longest river.
4. Africa's fourth longest river
5. Krokodil means crocodile.
6. Rio dos Elefantes in Mozambique. Olifants means elephants.
7. Grouped with Swaziland for statistical analysis.
8. Statisically grouped with Lesotho.
9. Also called Isizulu.
10. Also called Isixhosa.
11. Also called Sepedi or Pedi. The Botswana dialect is called Tswana or Setswana.
12. Also called Sesotho or just Sotho.
13. Including Soweto, which is often listed as a distinct city, as it was until recently.