The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to South Africa:
South Africa – A sovereign country located at the southern tip of Africa. [1] South Africa's coast stretches 2,798 kilometres [2] and borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. [3] To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), while the Kingdom of Lesotho is an independent enclave surrounded by South African territory. [4]
Administrative divisions of South Africa
Foreign relations of South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a member of: [1]
Southern Ndebele language |
Northern Sotho, also known by its native name Sesotho sa Leboa, is a Sotho-Tswana language group spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa. It is commonly referred to in its standardized form as Pedi or Sepedi and holds the status of an official language in South Africa. This language group includes dialects like Sepedi (Serota), KheLebedu, Setlokwa, Sekone, GaDikgale, and GaMatlala.
The national anthem of South Africa was adopted in 1997 and is a hybrid song combining extracts of the 19th century Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and the Afrikaans song that was used as the South African national anthem during the apartheid era, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", with new English lyrics.
Xhosa, formerly spelled Xosa and also known by its local name isiXhosa, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 10 million people and as a second language by another 10 million, mostly in South Africa, particularly in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng, and also in parts of Zimbabwe and Lesotho. It has perhaps the heaviest functional load of click consonants in a Bantu language, with one count finding that 10% of basic vocabulary items contained a click.
SothoSesotho, also known as Southern Sotho or Sesotho sa Borwa is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken in Lesotho, and South Africa where it is an official language;
The Sotho, also known as the Basotho, are a prominent Sotho-Tswana ethnic group with roots in Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho and South Africa. Historically, all individuals who spoke the Sotho-Tswana languages were collectively referred to as Sothos.
Venḓa or Tshivenḓa is a Bantu language and an official language of South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is mainly spoken by the Venda people or Vhavenḓa in the northern part of South Africa's Limpopo province, as well as by some Lemba people in South Africa. The Tshivenda language is related to the Kalanga language which is spoken in Southern Africa. During the apartheid era of South Africa, the bantustan of Venda was set up to cover the Venda speakers of South Africa.
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" is a Christian hymn originally composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa clergyman at a Methodist mission school near Johannesburg.
At least thirty-five languages indigenous to South Africa are spoken in the Republic, twelve of which are official languages of South Africa: Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu, Afrikaans, and English, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status. In addition, South African Sign Language was recognised as the twelfth official language of South Africa by the National Assembly on 3 May 2023. Unofficial languages are protected under the Constitution of South Africa, though few are mentioned by any name.
Elandspark is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 9.
Atholl Gardens is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region E.
Sandown is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, in Sandton. It is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Sandown is both a residential and commercial area and is home to the offices of many major national and international corporations as well as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the area known as Sandton Central. The Gautrain rapid rail system's Sandton Station is located in Sandown, linking Sandton to O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg Central and the Capital City, Pretoria.
Qonce, or King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. It has a population of around 35,000 inhabitants and forms part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
South African Bantu-speaking peoples represent the overwhelming majority ethno-racial group of South Africans. Occasionally grouped as Bantu, the term itself is derived from the English word "people", common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes "Bantu", when used in a contemporary usage and or racial context as "obsolescent and offensive", because of its strong association with the "white minority rule" with their apartheid system, however, Bantu is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa and is still used in South Africa as the group term for the language family.
The South African Translators' Institute (SATI) is the largest association in South Africa representing professional, academic and amateur translators and other language practitioners. Membership is open to anyone.
The State of the Nation Address of the President of South Africa is an annual event in the Republic of South Africa, in which the President of South Africa reports on the status of the nation, normally to the resumption of a joint sitting of Parliament.
The Southern Bantu languages are a large group of Bantu languages, largely validated in Janson (1991/92). They are nearly synonymous with Guthrie's Bantu zone S, apart from the exclusion of Shona and the inclusion of Makhuwa. They include all of the major Bantu languages of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique, with outliers such as Lozi in Zambia and Namibia, and Ngoni in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.
Several braille alphabets are used in South Africa. For English, Unified English Braille has been adopted. Nine other languages have been written in braille: Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sesotho, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu. All print alphabets are restricted to the basic Latin alphabet, with diacritics in some cases; the braille alphabets are likewise basic braille with additional letters to render the diacritics.
The South African national badminton team represents South Africa in international badminton team competitions and is controlled by Badminton South Africa, the governing body for badminton in South Africa. South Africa has participated in the Thomas Cup, Uber Cup and the Sudirman Cup but have never been to the quarterfinals.
Wikimedia Atlas of South Africa