OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of South Africa
LOCATION: Southernmost country in Africa
AREA: 470,689 square miles (1,219,090 square kilometers), slightly smaller than the country of Ethiopia
CAPITALS: Pretoria (executive); Bloemfontein (judicial); Cape Town (legislative)
POPULATION: 58,048,332 (2023 estimate)
LANGUAGES: official — isi ulu, isi hosa, Afrikaans, Sepedi, Setswana, English, Sesotho, itsonga, isiNdebele
PEOPLE: Black African 80.9%, Colored 8.8%, White . , Indian Asian 2. 202 estimate Note colored is a term used in South Africa, including on the national census, for persons of mixed-race ancestry who developed a distinct cultural identity over several hundred years.)
RELIGIONS: Christian 86%, traditional African religions 5.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other 1.5%, nothing in particular 5.2% (2015 estimate)
TERRAIN: Vast interior plain surrounded by hills and narrow coast
GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary republic
NATURAL RESOURCES: Gold, diamonds, coal, iron…