White South Africans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
2014 Estimate: 4,554,800 (8.4% of South Africa's population) 2011 Census: 4,586,838 (8.9% of South Africa's population) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Throughout South Africa, but concentrated in urban areas | |
| Gauteng | 1,920,000 |
| Western Cape | 980,000 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 450,000 |
| Eastern Cape | 300,000 |
| Free State | 270,000 |
| Mpumalanga | 250,000 |
| North West | 240,000 |
| Limpopo | 110,000 |
| Northern Cape | 110,000 |
| Languages | |
| Afrikaans 61%, South African English 36%, other 3% | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (87%), no religion (9%), Judaism (1%), other (3%) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
|
White Namibians White Zimbabweans Afrikaners British diaspora in Africa Coloured South African diaspora |
|
2014 Estimate: 4,554,800 (8.4% of South Africa's population)
White South Africans are people from South Africa who are of European descent and who do not regard themselves, or are not regarded as, being part of another racial group (for example, as Coloured). In linguistic, cultural and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original settlers, known as Afrikaners, and the Anglophone descendants of predominantly British colonists. In 2011, 61% were native Afrikaans speakers, 36% were native English speakers, and 3% spoke another language as their mother tongue, such as Portuguese or German. White South Africans are by far the largest European-descended population group in Africa.
White South Africans differ significantly from other white African groups, because they have developed nationhood, as in the case of the Afrikaners, who established a distinct language, culture and faith in Africa.
The history of European settlement in South Africa started in 1652 with the settlement of the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) under Jan van Riebeeck. Despite the preponderance of officials and colonists from the Netherlands, there were also a number of French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution at home and German soldiers or sailors returning from service in Asia. The colony remained under Dutch rule for two more centuries, after which it was annexed by Great Britain around 1806. At that time, South Africa was home to about 26,000 people of European descent, a relative majority of whom were still of Dutch origin. However, beginning in 1818 thousands of British immigrants arrived in the fledgling Cape Colony, looking to join the local workforce or settle directly on the frontier. Between 1880 and 1910, there was an influx of Eastern Europeans of various nationalities, especially a large Jewish community from the Baltic region.
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