South Africa Travel Podcast with Sipho Ndlovu

Location

Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

Terrain

Vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain

Climate

Mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights

Elevation

Highest point

Ntheledi (Mafadi) 3,450 m

Lowest point

Atlantic/Indian Oceans 0 m

Mean elevation

1,034 m

Area

Total

1,219,090 sq km

Land

1,214,470 sq km

Water

4,620 sq km

Size comparison

Slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Coastline

2,798 km

Land borders

Total

5,244 km

Border countries

Botswana 1,969 km; Lesotho 1,106 km; Mozambique 496 km; Namibia 1,005 km; Eswatini 438 km; Zimbabwe 230 km

Natural resources

Gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas

Land use

Agricultural land

79.4% (2023 est.)

Arable land

9.9% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops

0.3% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture

69.2% (2023 est.)

Forest

18.7% (2023 est.)

Other

1.9% (2023 est.)

Natural hazards

Prolonged droughts

Volcanism: the volcano that formed Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands is South Africa's only active volcano

Note

Note 1: South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Eswatini

Note 2: sometimes mistaken for the southernmost point of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope is more accurately described as the southwestern-most point of the African continent; Cape Agulhas, the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, is the southernmost point of the African continent

Population

Total

61,089,926 (2025 est.)

Male

29,989,969

Female

31,099,957

Nationality

Noun

South African(s)

Adjective

South African

Ethnic groups

Black African 80.9%, Colored 8.8%, White 7.8%, Indian/Asian 2.6% (2021 est.)

Languages

Languages

IsiZulu or Zulu (official) 25.3%, isiXhosa or Xhosa (official) 14.8%, Afrikaans (official) 12.2%, Sepedi or Pedi (official) 10.1%, Setswana or Tswana (official) 9.1%, English (official) 8.1%, Sesotho or Sotho (official) 7.9%, Xitsonga or Tsonga (official) 3.6%, siSwati or Swati (official) 2.8%, Tshivenda or Venda (official) 2.5%, isiNdebele or Ndebele (official) 1.6%, other (includes South African sign language (official) and Khoi or Khoisan or Khoe languages) 2% (2018 est.)

Major-language sample(s)

Die Wereld Feite Boek, n’ onontbeerlike bron vir basiese informasie. (Afrikaans)

Religions

Christian 86%, ancestral, tribal, animist, or other traditional African religions 5.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other 1.5%, nothing in particular 5.2% (2015 est.)

Median age

Total

30.7 years (2025 est.)

Male

30.1 years

Female

30.6 years

Life expectancy

Total population

71.9 years (2024 est.)

Male

70.3 years

Female

73.5 years

Urbanisation

Urban population

68.8% of total population (2023)

Rate of urbanization

1.72% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Where people live

The population is concentrated along the southern and southeastern coast, and inland around Pretoria; the eastern half of the country is more densely populated than the west, as shown in this population distribution map

Largest cities

10.316 million Johannesburg (includes Ekurhuleni), 4.890 million Cape Town (legislative capital), 3.228 million Durban, 2.818 million PRETORIA (administrative capital), 1.296 million Port Elizabeth, 934,000 West Rand (2023)

Background

Some of the earliest human remains in the fossil record were found in South Africa. By about A.D. 500, Bantu-speaking groups began settling into what is now northeastern South Africa, displacing Khoisan-speaking groups to the southwest. Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of present-day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many settlers of Dutch descent -- known then as "Boers," or farmers, but later called Afrikaners -- trekked north to found their own republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State. In the 1820s, several decades of wars began as the Zulus expanded their territory, moving out of what is today southeastern South Africa and clashing with other indigenous peoples and the growing European settlements. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred mass immigration, predominantly from Europe.

The Zulu kingdom's territory was incorporated into the British Empire after the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, and the Afrikaner republics were incorporated after their defeat in the Second South African War (1899-1902). Beginning in 1910, the British and the Afrikaners ruled together under the Union of South Africa, which left the British Commonwealth to become a fully self-governing republic in 1961 after a Whites-only referendum. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid -– billed as "separate development" of the races -- which favored the White minority and suppressed the Black majority and other non-White groups. The African National Congress (ANC) led the resistance to apartheid, and many top ANC leaders such as Nelson MANDELA spent decades in South Africa's prisons. Internal protests and insurgency, as well as boycotts from some Western nations and institutions, led to the regime's eventual willingness to unban the ANC and negotiate a peaceful transition to majority rule.

The first multi-racial elections in 1994 ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government. South Africa has since struggled to address apartheid-era imbalances in wealth, housing, education, and health care under successive administrations. President Cyril RAMAPHOSA, who was reelected as the ANC leader in 2022, has made some progress in reigning in corruption.

Government

Parliamentary republic

Capital

Pretoria (administrative capital); Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)

Time zone

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

Independence

31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State); 22 August 1934 (Status of the Union Act); 31 May 1961 (republic declared); 27 April 1994 (majority rule)

National day

Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)

Overview

Upper-middle-income, largest southern African economy; Government of National Unity facing slow growth, fiscal gaps, and structural challenges; high income inequality, unemployment, and poverty; reforms to address electricity generation, transport, and logistics; leading producer and exporter of critical minerals

GDP per capita

Real GDP per capita 2024

$13,600 (2024 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2023

$13,700 (2023 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2022

$13,800 (2022 est.)

Inflation

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2024

4.4% (2024 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2023

6.1% (2023 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022

7% (2022 est.)

Unemployment

Unemployment rate 2024

33.2% (2024 est.)

Unemployment rate 2023

32.1% (2023 est.)

Unemployment rate 2022

33.3% (2022 est.)

Exchange rate

Currency

Rand (ZAR) per US dollar -

Exchange rates 2024

18.329 (2024 est.)

Exchange rates 2023

18.45 (2023 est.)

Exchange rates 2022

16.356 (2022 est.)

Exchange rates 2021

14.779 (2021 est.)

Exchange rates 2020

16.459 (2020 est.)

Main industries

Mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair

Agriculture

Sugarcane, maize, milk, soybeans, potatoes, wheat, grapes, chicken, oranges, apples (2023)

Airports

573 (2025)

Railways

Total

30,400 km (2021)

Standard gauge

80 km (2021) 1.435-m gauge (80 km electrified)

Narrow gauge

19,756 km (2014) 1.065-m gauge (8,271 km electrified)

Ports

Total ports

8 (2024)

Large

2

Medium

4

Small

1

Very small

1

Ports with oil terminals

7

Key ports

Cape Town, Durban, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay

Internet domain

.za

Internet users

Percent of population 76% (2023 est.)

Mobile subscriptions

Total subscriptions

115 million (2024 est.)

Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

167 (2024 est.)

Environmental issues

Limited freshwater resources due to lack of major rivers or lakes; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban waste; air pollution resulting in acid rain; deforestation; soil erosion; land degradation; desertification; solid waste pollution; significant floral extinctions

Fresh water

51.35 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)