There are eleven official languages of South Africa: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.

Dutch and English were the first official languages of South Africa from 1910 to 1925.

South Africa is the only nation-state named after its geographic location

Cookery

Potjiekos, literally translated "small pot food", is a stew prepared outdoors in a traditional round, cast iron, three-legged pot. This one is being cooked on a barbecue.

An example of bunny chow, served in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

African food is colourful, interesting and alien to most visitors. It also tastes terrific. A well-prepared local meal can be a highlight of your trip to South Africa. Many restaurants specialise in the cuisine of the continent and serve a good variety of traditional African dishes.

dish

honey

The Republic of South Africa is a constitutional democracy

The economy of South Africa is the second largest in Africa, behind Nigeria, it accounts for 24% of its gross domestic product in terms of purchasing power parity, and is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank; this makes the country one of only four countries in Africa in this category (the others being Botswana, Gabon and Mauritius).[8] Since 1996, at the end of over twelve years of international sanctions, South Africa's Gross Domestic Product has almost tripled to $400 billion, and foreign exchange reserves have increased from $3 billion to nearly $50 billion; creating a growing and sizable African middle class, within two decades of establishing democracy and ending apartheid.[9]

Economy of South Africa

White Shark Projects was established in 1989

and is a world-leading organisation that focuses on the conservation of great white sharks through responsible tourism and research.