South Africa at a Glance
Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of modern day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902); however, the British and the Afrikaners, as the Boers became known, ruled together under the Union of South Africa. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid and ushered in black majority rule.
Time: Johannesburg is UTC/GMT+2, 9 hours ahead of PST and 6 hours ahead of EST.
Climate: Winters in the Highveld are generally sunny days but cold at night!
Population: 45 million, but with an HIV/Aids prevalence rate of over 20% and therefore an average life expectancy of only 42 years.
Ethnic Groups: black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored (mixed race) 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5%
Languages: There are 11 official languages, with Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans being the most widely spoken but English is the lingua franca.
Government: Republic with a multi-party democracy in which the ANC holds an absolute majority.