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South Africa: An Overview

Introduction

South Africa is a place of many attractions, among them an enviable climate, magnificent scenery and unsurpassed opportunities for watching game and other wildlife. It also has significant and well-documented social problems, legacies of the apartheid era, including corruption, crime, high levels of HIV/Aids infection, and widespread social deprivation and unemployment amongst the black majority. However, with unemployment falling and crime reported to be on the decrease, the outlook is far from bleak.

The country has now become one of the international property market’s hotspots. Thousands of British people have already bought homes there, benefiting from low property prices (in some areas as little as a tenth of prices in the south of England) and rapid capital appreciation.

Geography

Occupying an area of around 1.2 million km2, almost all of which lies below the Tropic of Capricorn, the Republic of South Africa is around an eighth of the size of the US. It is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Indian Ocean to the south and east, borders the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland to the north, and encircles the independent kingdom of Lesotho.

South Africa is composed of three main regions, a central plateau, an escarpment of mountain ranges and a low-lying coastal strip. Its landscapes range from fertile plains and savannah (grasslands) to the Kalahari Desert and the Drakensberg Mountains. There are two major rivers, the Limpopo and the Orange.

Climate and weather

South Africa’s climate is comfortable throughout the year, although, owing to the country’s varied topography, there are significant regional differences and some extremes.

Average temperatures on the west coast are 20 degrees Celsius in summer and 12.5 degrees Celsius in winter. The east coast’s climate is sub-tropical, with summer temperatures often in excess of 30 degrees. Humidity there is typically high. Most rainfall occurs during late spring and summer.

The southern coast, on which lies the famous Garden Route, is less tropical but still verdant, while the south-western corner of the country has a Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and hot, dry summers. This area is known for the wind that blows intermittently throughout much of the year.

History

Originally inhabited by the San (or Bushmen) and Khoikhoin, South Africa was settled by Bantu tribes in the 16th century. The 17th century Dutch were the earliest European colonists. In 1806, the British seized the Cape of Good Hope, and control of the entire region passed to Britain in 1814.

The Dutch settlers’ descendants challenged Britain’s supremacy, unsuccessfully, in the Boer War (1899–1902). The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, with a policy of apartheid designed to ensure the continued ascendancy of the white minority.

In 1961, South Africa became a republic, severed all links with the Commonwealth and strengthened apartheid. The 1990s saw the end of apartheid politically and paved the way for black majority rule.

More pages

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: South Africa’s culture
Page 3: The great outdoors
Page 4: Public holidays

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