South Africa is situated at the southern tip of Africa forming part of the Southern Africa region and is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is situated within South Africa’s borders.

Rugby is one of South Africa's big three sports, alongside soccer and cricket. For the many South African fans of the game, rugby is a serious matter, a source of bursting pride and joy - or shattering disappointment.

South Africa has the most advanced economy on the African continent. Since1994, particularly, the country's economy has grown rapidly. Its geographical position provides an ideal gateway to Sub-Saharan Africa.

The most important contributors to the economy include the mining sector, manufacturing and agriculture. Most economic activity takes place in Gauteng where most mining occurs. The country's financial and industrial infrastructure is well-developed with excellent growth potential.

Education is in a state of flux. Under the apartheid system schools were segregated, and the quantity and quality of education varied significantly across racial groups. Although the laws governing this segregation have been abolished, the long and arduous process of restructuring the country's educational system is just beginning.

Less than 10% of the population under 5 is underweight, which is much lower than the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. Total daily calories consumed remain within the recommended range at approximately 2,800 kcals/day. Iron is readily available in the diet, most of it coming from vegetable sources. Vitamin A levels are low, with slightly more amounts coming from vegetables than meats. The staple starch is maize with vegetables making up the majority of the rest of the daily caloric intake.

South Africa's Geography

South Africa occupies the southern tip of Africa, its long coasline stretching more than 2500km from the desert border with Namibia on the Atlantic coas, southwards around the tip of Afrcia, then north to the border with subtropical Mozambique on the Indian Ocean.

Size and provinces

South Africa is a medium-sized country, with a total land area of slightly more than 1.2-million square kilometres, making it roughly the same size as Niger, Angola, Mali and Colombia.

It is one-eighth the size of the US, twice the size of France and over three times the size of Germany. South Africa measures some 1 600km from north to south, and roughly the same from east to west.

he country has nine provinces, which vary considerably in size. The smallest is tiny and crowded Gauteng, a highly urbanised region, and the largest the vast, arid and empty Northern Cape, which takes up almost a third of South Africa's total land area.

Cities

South Africa has three capitals: Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Pretoria. The Western Cape city of Cape Town, where the country's Parliament is found, is the legislative capital. In the Free State, Bloemfontein is the judicial capital, and home to the Supreme Court of Appeal. In Gauteng province, Pretoria, where the Union Buildings and a large proportion of the civil service are found, is the administrative capital, and the ultimate capital of the country.

The largest and most important city is Johannesburg, the economic heartland of the country. Other important centres include Durban and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.

Climate and topography

Although the country is classified as semi-arid, it has considerable variation in climate as well as topography.

The great inland Karoo plateau, where rocky hills and mountains rise from sparsely populated scrubland, is very dry, and gets more so as it shades in the north-west towards the Kalahari desert. Extremely hot in summer, it can be icy in winter.

Habitat types: South Africa has seven major terrestrial biomes, or habitat types - broad ecological life zones with distinct environmental conditions and related sets of plant and animal life.

South African Sports

South Africa was absent from international sport for most of the apartheid era due to sanctions, but started competing globally after the country's white electorate voted in a referendum in favour of a negotiated settlement of the apartheid question.

South Africans love almost all sport activities rugby, cricket and soccer being the most popular sports. There are more than 400 golf courses in South Africa, including a course designed by G Gary Player at Sun City in the Northwest Province.

Rugby in South Africa

The Danie Craven Museum in Stellenbosch is one of the most comprehensive rugby museums in South Africa. In front of the museum is the memorial statue of Danie Craven and his dog, Bliksem, one-and-a-half times larger than life. Did You Know? Stellenbosch University's rugby club is the largest rugby club in the world.

The most important rugby stadiums in South Africa are:

• Newlands, Cape Town
• Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch

The national rugby team is the Springboks.

Cricket in South Africa 

Cricket is extremely popular in South Africa. When South Africa plays a five-day test, almost the whole male South African population comes to a standstill, most of them glued to the TV or radio, even during business hours.

The main cricket fields of South Africa are:

·         Newlands, Cape Town

·         St George's Park, Port Elizabeth 

Soccer in South Africa

Soccer is the most popular spectator sport in the black community. The only stadium is the FNB Stadium. The national team's name is Bafana Bafana, meaning 'boys boys'. 

South African Tradition

South Africa is a very multicultural society and therefore has many different customs. South Africa has 9 provinces and 11 official languages and so you can imagine all the different cultures and customs. To name some of these languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Sotho and Xhoza. South Africa has a democratic government and has three capitals, namely Cape Town, the legislative capital, Pretoria, the administrative capital and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.

South Africa is proud of its diverse cultural wealth and traditions.  Although some cultural traditions and customs have been forsaken others still form an integral part of their daily life, often blending with each other and with modern elements to present a fascinating combination of old and new. 

All traditions are based on beliefs in male deities in ancient spirits and supernatural forces. Old customs like animal sacrifice and polygamy are still maintained. What is the art of the indigenous population is one way to be connected to these ancient cultures today and lost. Rocks and sand painted caves, some of which have some 26,000 years back, fall into this category.

South African Myths and Legends

I've always been intrigued by legends, myths and tales that have been passed on from generation to generation.
Every country, land and all kinds of people have their own stories to tell.

Sometimes these stories transcend geographical, ethnical and cultural barriers.
Some of these stories have travelled across the globe by explorers who share them by means of word or writing.
These stories are sometimes taken from real events or simply just plain myths

Van Hunks & The Devil

Jan van Hunks, a Dutch pirate in the early 18th century, retired from his eventful life at sea to live on the slopes of Devil's Peak, Table Mountain. To escape from his wife's sharp tongue he often walked up the mountain where he settled down to smoke his pipe. One day a mysterious stranger approached him and asked the retired pirate to borrow some tobacco. After a bit of bragging, a smoking contest ensued, with the winner's prize a ship full of gold. After several days, Van Hunks finally defeated the stranger, who unfortunately turned out to be the devil. Suddenly, thunder rolled, the clouds closed in and Van Hunks disappeared, leaving behind only a scorched patch of ground. Legend has it that the cloud of tobacco smoke they left became the "table-cloth" - the famous white cloud that spills over Table Mountain when the south-easter blows in summer. When that happens, it is said that Van Hunks and the Devil are at it again.

The South African economy

South Africa is Africa's largest economy and plays an important role in the development of the region. The South African economy has a large amount of capital (public and private) in close collaboration with global economic grids.

Its currency is the rand divisible into 100 cents, which is also used in other countries of the Common Monetary Area of Southern Africa.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the largest in Africa.

A major industry is mining, especially coal mining and minerals and precious metals such as diamonds, gold and platinum. It is one of the countries with larger reserves of mineral wealth and diversity.

The literature of South Africa

The literature of South Africa has a varied history. Many black writers were educated by Anglican missionaries and most of them wrote their works in both English and Afrikaans. One of the first novels written by famous black writer in this language is Mhudi of Sol Plaatje (1930). The peculiarities of the South African society and political history have made ​​it possible for writers whose themes appear beyond apartheid, being interested in people's lives in contemporary society.

The traditional literary forms or sources that have influenced contemporary literary creation are mainly: proverbs, short stories, fables and historical narrative.

Oral or written poetry in indigenous language or in a foreign language continues to represent the most vivid literary form in South Africa and covers various subjects, from traditional medicine to comment on the laws or the latest news to marital problems or the rate of inflation.

South African Music and Art

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory.

South Africa is multi-ethnic and has diverse cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution.^[10] Two of these languages are of European origin: Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans, and South African English.

South Africa is home to some of the most ancient and beautiful art in the world the rock art of the ancestors of today's Bushman or San. It is also the scene of a host of diverse and challenging contemporary artists producing important new work.

Conceptual art in South Africa  which had had significant though muted beginnings in earlier decades seemed to come into its own in the 1990s. Events such as the two Johannesburg Biennales (1995 and 1997, then discontinued) contributed to a new dialogue between South African artists and currents from other countries. Media such as video, performance and installation took the place of painting.
Afrikaans music was primarily influenced by Dutch folk styles, along with French and German influences, in the early twentieth century. Zydeco-type string bands led by a concertina were popular, as were elements of American country music, especially Jim Reeves.

The first major style of South African popular music to emerge was pennywhistle jive (later known as kwela). Black cattle-herders had long played a three-holed reed flute, adopting a six-holed flute when they moved to the cities.

South African art

 

South African art is the creative output of human beings from South Africa.

The oldest art objects in the world were discovered in a South African cave. Dating from 75,000 years ago,^[1] these small drilled snail shells could have no other function than to have been strung on a string as a necklace. South Africa was one of the cradles of the human species. One of the defining characteristics of our species is the making of art (from Latin 'ars' meaning worked or formed from basic material). The scattered tribes of Khoisan/San/ Bushman peoples moving into South Africa from around 10000 BC had their own fluent art styles seen today in a multitude of cave paintings. They were superseded by Bantu/Nguni peoples with their own vocabularies of art forms. Leap ahead to the present era, when traditional tribal forms of art were scattered and re-melded by the divisive policies of apartheid. New forms of art evolved in the mines and townships: a dynamic art using everything from plastic strips to bicycle spokes. Add to this the Dutch-influenced folk art of the hardy Afrikaner Trek Boers and the urban white artists earnestly following changing European traditions from the 1850s onwards, and you have an eclectic mix which continues to evolve today.



South African Music

                                                    

There is great diversity in music from South Africa. Many black musicians who sang in Afrikaans or English during apartheid have since begun to sing in traditional African languages, and have developed a unique style called Kwaito. White and Coloured South African singers are historically influenced by European musical styles including such western metal bands such as Seether (formerly Saron Gas). South Africa has produced world-famous jazz musicians, notably Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, Jonathan Butler, Chris McGregor, and Sathima Bea Benjamin. Afrikaans music covers multiple genres, such as the contemporary Steve Hofmeyr and the punk rock band Fokofpolisiekar. Crossover artists such as Johnny Clegg and his bands Juluka and Savuka have enjoyed various success underground, publicly, and abroad.

the south africa music scene includes kwaito, a new music genre that had developed in the mid 80s and has since developed to become the most popular social economical form of representation among the populous.

Gospel

In the early twentieth century, Zionist Christian churches spread across South Africa. They incorporated African musical elements into their worship, thus inventing South African gospel music which remains one of the most popular forms of music in the country today.

Afrikaans music was primarily influenced by Dutch folk styles, along with French and German influences, in the early twentieth century. Zydeco-type string bands led by a concertina were popular, as were elements of American country music, especially Jim Reeves. Bushveld music based on the Zulu were reinterpreted by such singers as Marais and Miranda. Melodramatic and sentimental songs called trane trekkers (tear jerkers) were especially common. In 1996 the South African Music scene changed from the Tranetrekkers to more lively sounds and the introduction of new names in the market with the likes of Nádine, Kurt Darren and Nicolis Louw. Afrikaans music is currently one of the most popular and best selling industries on the South African music scene.

The apartheid years of South African history (1948-1994) saw a great diversity in South African art, ranging from landscape painting to abstract art, engagements with currents burgeoning in Europe and the United States, to a fiercely local sense of what it meant to be an artist in this country during troubled times.

Sometimes South African art seemed to float above the political issues of the day; at other times it tackled them with vigour and insight.

The South African music scene includes both popular (jive) and folk forms. Pop styles are based on four major sources, Zulu isicathamiya singing and harmonic mbaqanga. South Africa is very diverse, with many native African Ethnic groups as well as European and Indian peoples.

By the 1950s, the music industry had diversified greatly, and included several major labels. In 1962, the South African government launched a development programme for Bantu Radio in order to foster separate development and encourage independence for the Bantustans. Though the government had expected Bantu Radio to play folk music, African music had developed into numerous pop genres, and the nascent recording studios used radio to push their pop stars. The new focus on radio led to a government crackdown on lyrics, censoring songs which were considered a "public hazard".



The heterogeneity of the South African society is reflected in the many different family structures and ways of family life. Traditions (cultural), changing values, political events, economic developments, modernization, and globalization contribute in a complex way to ever-changing family forms and family relationships. Greater economic independence has resulted in more nuclear families, while poorer conditions force families to unite for the sake of survival and to support one another emotionally and economically.

Today South Africa is a middle-income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region.