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South Africa - A Brief Overiew
South Africa’s subtropical location, moderated by ocean on three sides of the country and the altitude of the interior plateau, makes South Africa a warm and sunny country. The country consists of nine provinces. Guateng province centred on Johnnesburg is the economic heart of South Africa and the largest inland city in the world not situated on a river. It is a multiparty democratic republic, home to 53m people (South African government 2013). Nobel prize winner Desmond Tutu called it the Rainbow Nation, because of its ethnic diversity (79.8% black, 8.9% white, 8.9% coloured, 2% Indian, 0.4% other e.g. Chinese, Malay). Diversity is a key feature of South Africa, where 11 languages are recognised as official, although English is the main language of government and business. The country was home to San bushmen, but in the 17th century Dutch and French Huguenot (Afrikaner) colonists settled in the Cape, whilst further east Zulus were migrating down from what is now Zimbabwe. British settlers started arriving in the 19th century; however the discovery of gold in the 1880s led to mass immigration. This created tensions between the Afrikaners and British culminating in the Boer war (1899-1902). Britain despite being victorious agreed to self rule in 1910, albeit only for European. Afrikaners came to monopolise government, whilst the British dominated the commercial world. Successive governments from 1948 operated an increasingly racist system (apartheid) which sought to separate blacks and whites dictating for example where different races should live.
This led to periodic bouts of civil disobedience, rioting and political isolation until the first universal election in 1994 when the African National Congress won outright victory under Nelson Mandela’s leadership. The ANC has subsequently won every election. The current president is

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