| SOUTH
AFRICA
Formal Name: Republic of South Africa, RSA.
Local
Name: Suid Afrika.
Capital: Pretoria; note - Cape Town is the legislative center and
Bloemfontein the judicial center.
Area: total: 1,219,912 sq km - slightly less than twice the
size of Texas.
National languages: Afrikans, English, Xhosa and Zulu.
Currency: Rand. 1 Rand = 100 Cents.
Population: 44,344,136.
Religions: Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloreds, about
60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60%
of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%.
President: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999).
Misc:
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). The resulting Union
of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate
development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid
politically and ushered in black majority rule.
Misc.
Source: www.cia.gov
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