South Africa

Republic of South Africa 10 other official names: Republiek van Suid-Afrika  (Afrikaans) iRiphabliki yeSewula Afrika  (Southern Ndebele) iRiphabliki yomZantsi Afrika  (Xhosa) iRiphabhuliki yaseNingizimu Afrika  (Zulu) iRiphabhulikhi yeNingizimu Afrika  (Swati) Repabliki ya Afrika-Borwa  (Northern Sotho) Rephaboliki ya Afrika Borwa  (Sotho) Rephaboliki ya Aforika Borwa  (Tswana) Riphabliki ra Afrika Dzonga  (Tsonga) Riphabuḽiki ya Afurika Tshipembe  (Venda)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "!ke e: ǀxarra ǁke" (ǀXam) "Unity in Diversity"
Anthem: National anthem of South Africa
Location of  South Africa  (dark blue) – in Africa  (light blue & dark grey) – in the African Union  (light blue)
Capital	Pretoria (executive) Bloemfontein (judicial) Cape Town (legislative)
Largest city	Johannesburg
Official languages	11 languages Afrikaans Northern Sotho English Southern Ndebele Southern Sotho Swazi Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zulu
Ethnic groups (2014)	80.2% Black 8.8% Coloured 8.4% White 2.5% Asian
Demonym	South African
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
• President	Jacob Zuma
• Deputy President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	National Council
• Lower house	National Assembly
Independence from the United Kingdom
• Union	31 May 1910
• Self-governance	11 December 1931
• Republic	31 May 1961
• Current constitution	4 February 1997
Area
• Total	1,221,037 km2 (471,445 sq mi) (24th)
• Water (%)	negligible
Population
• 2015 estimate	54,956,900 (25th)
• 2011 census	51,770,560
• Density	42.4/km2 (109.8/sq mi) (169th)
GDP (PPP)	2016 estimate
• Total	$742.461 billion (30th)
• Per capita	$13,321 (90th)
GDP (nominal)	2016 estimate
• Total	$326.541 billion (35th)
• Per capita	$5,859 (88th)
Gini (2009)	63.1 very high
HDI (2014)	0.666 medium · 116th
Currency	South African rand (ZAR)
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)
Drives on the	left
Calling code	+27
ISO 3166 code	ZA
Internet TLD	.za

– in Africa  (light blue & dark grey)
– in the African Union  (light blue)

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded on the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, on the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and on the east and northeast by Mozambique and Swaziland, and surrounding the kingdom of Lesotho. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 56 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. It is the only country that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (white), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (coloured) ancestry.