South Africa Location The Republic of South Africa is located at the southern tip of the African continent. It borders the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Lesotho, a small mountainous nation--the Switzerland of Africa--is entirely surrounded by South African territory. Racial Diversity South Africa is a racially diverse nation. It has the largest population of coloureds, Europeans, and Indians in Africa. Racial strife between the white minority and the black majority have played a large role in the country's history and politics. This strife intensified greatly in 1948 with the creation by the National Party of the "apartheid" social and political system. The laws that defined apartheid began to be repealed or abolished by 1990, after a long and violent struggle by the black majority, as well as some white, coloured, and Indian South Africans. South Africa is often referred to as "The Rainbow Nation" - a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later elaborated upon by then-President Nelson Mandela as a metaphor to describe the country's newly-developing multicultural diversity in the wake of the rejected separatist Apartheidist ideology. A Continental Power The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular elections have been held for almost a century, although black South Africans were polically enfranchised only in 1994. This stability has made it a regional power and among the most stable liberal democracies in Africa. The economy of South Africa is the largest and best developed on the continent, with modern infrastructure common throughout the country. Languages South Africa has 11 official languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Swati, Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa. In this regard it is second only to India in number of official languages. As a result, there are many official names for the country. The "unofficial languages" of South Africa include the regional dialects of the San and Khoi khoi people. These desert people, who are a physically distinct population from other Africans, have their own cultural identity reflecting their hunter-gatherer life styles. They have been marginalised to a great extent; their languages are in danger of becoming extinct. While each language is, technically, equal to every other, English has emerged recently as the chief-among-peers as it is the most widely spoken language across racial barriers, even though it is not the most widely spoken language by population. Afrikaans has been downgraded in order to accommodate other official languages. The South African passport currently has only French and English on the front cover and lists the other official names of South Africa on an inner page. For More Information About South Africa, Click Here....