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introduction
soLrttr Africa, Afrikaans suid-Afrikd, gfi§14!y-E5p.!!l]ic-S|JC!tt!äLka, republic (zorr pop. 5t,77o,56o),
471,359 sq mi {r,zzo,8r3 sq km), 5 Africa,
lt bordere on the Atlantlc ocean in the west' on Namibiä in the
north**t, on Botswana and Zimbabwe in the nörth, on Mozambique and swaziland in the northeast, and
on the lndian Ocean in the east and south. Lesotho i5 an independent endäve in the east, The largest cliy is
J,ohannesb-urg. §gBßJ"au{u is the kg!§Etiv,g§gg.,i.tq,l, P*S}g{ti
the a-d*8j}i*JaIiv-e-caB,..rl.al' and EJ"p,"g,Pl.q"*:jI
theiHd_icial-capjtal,"
Physica! Geography
South Africa has three main geographic regions: a great interior plateau; an escarpment of
mountain ranges that rims the plateau on the east, south, afid wesq and a marginal area lying
between the äscarpment and the sea. Most of the plateau consists of highveld, rolling grassland
situated at 4,ooo to 6,000 ft (r,zzo-r,83o m). ln addition, in the northeast are the lVj-hry.a-ters-ra-.n-d
(a ridge of rock where gold has been mined.since 1886), the Bushveld.Basin (a zone of savanna
iftuatea at z,ooo-3,ooo ft/61c-91o m), and the Limpopo River basin.ln the north are the southem
fringes of the Kalahari deser! and in the west is the semiarid Cape middleveld, which includes
c
paÄof the Orange River and is situated at 2,5oo to 4,ooo ft (75o-1;z2o m). The estarPment
reach.s its greatJst heights (ro,ooo-tt,ooo ftf3,o5o-1,35o m) in the Drakensberg Range in the
east. The märginal area-varies in width between 35 and t5o mi (6o-:4o km) and most of is
it
bordeied by aiarro*, lowJying coastal strip. The rägion also includes considärable sfietches of'
grassland in the easq mountaini and the semiarid Creat and Little Karroo tablelands in the sbuth;
is in NE
änd desert (a southem extension of the Namib desert) in the west. Ktuger-N.atio-nalPark
South Africa.
Political GeographY
south Africa is divided iBlsJ]jl§*plg.yJ[c."es-we.stern-eap-c, -Eas!e-Lo:gap,e, N*o-rthem-c--a-.p-c, Ng,St
1994, there were
\&est, Free Stäte, i<*aZuiu-rläät, öauictr'g, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga' Before
f;fi;r; Gp*:*rvio"", Natal (largely coäxtensive with KwaZulu'Natal), orange Free State
t4X
(largely coexteniive with Free State), and Transvaal, In addition, during apartheid rule about
(originally
of tie-country's land area was set aside for black in pseudoindependent territories
catled "bantuitans"), allegedly to allow them self-government and cultural
preservation' ln fuct, 3
these ,thomelands,, were utud to give the white government greater Control and to
exClude
blaik from the political process. iazankulu, Xangwane, KwaNäebete, KwaZulu, Lebowa, and
q;;q*, weie säntu natiänal homelands that existed under South African sovereignty. 'nskei,
the first homeland (1963), Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, and Venda were all granted "independence'l
by the early rgsis ana ., nominal republics, atthough non" *"re recognized
"*irt"d
irit"."r}"uriv. with the end of white minority rule in 1994, the black homelands were abolished'
Feople
with about
The population of south Africa is atrout e§äIhck{ef&3g) and 1o5yyl1g (ES.igpee.!),
qB people of mixe(. yvhite and black descent (formerty .uif"a "coio*ää;i, inä a smult minority of
äftI'äil;r;i niiin'n..r.g.ornd. Atthough these ethnic divisions were rigidly qs{orcedundet
are often arbitrary' People of
in*pofig:-ep-+*,.gg ;ntr'it<aans, = apa*iessl, racial distinctions has l--g.Jfielai
African descent fall into several groups, based on their first language.south Africa
r1ya3o, Solho, srn'azi, venda' Ndebele'
of
lansuases-nine "wbicl ar-e lnJigenous-Zu.lu,.xhosa'
;Hffii;;;r:*r"vir.ir.' uriJ;;;;k Atuür*r (theiirst iu,',g,ase or,bout 60%.ot the whites
rest of the
;ä'il;;ä;ri; or 6,or* ot mixed äce) o*gn*;hi1r" first lar:guage of most of.ih€
nonb{ack). A lingua franca calied Fanagalo aeveloped in the niining areas, but it is not widely
, ffi[uicq
>indePendenca. grorn enQ. onc&<t trtr\qdorn
in tq6u
§
+ne. t*rh\be rrirnonLg estq6guv,*.,o qn
qpoYlheiol s54stern,
o \htfiiKrtioncrfizeO *gregrt\ön betr,ueen tolqcK
qnd uniue,.
. \Nh!\es erso\ö<d rhe- h\gh€st sbs^ndqrd oQ
UU
o +\s b\crcts {n
sor\ üU' tärnäLin"d"r disoduqntqq.eer_
S. o\r\bsts eudrg uYonqoi*, rnor,.^ori nq ini;q
educa.\ofr ty*\r§\'li\e crnd \,*q-e eJ(pee\aH"^ö . -'
Ttu.U use§€ rrot tfitcnoed to väUC
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