Republic of south africa

Republic of South Africa Flag Coat of arms

Motto: !ke e: ǀxarra ǁke (ǀXam)
"Unity In Diversity"
Anthem: National anthem of South Africa
South Africa National Anthem.ogg

Capital Pretoria (executive)
Bloemfontein (judicial)
Cape Town (legislative)
Largest Johannesburg (2006)
Official language(s)
11
Ethnic groups 79.5% Black
9.0% White
9.0% Coloured
2.5% Asian
Demonym South African
Government Constitutional parliamentary republic - President Jacob Zuma - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe - NCOP Chairman M. J. Mahlangu - National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu - Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng
Legislature Parliament - Upper house National Council of Provinces - Lower house National Assembly
Independence from the United Kingdom - Union 31 May 1910 - Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931 - Republic 31 May 1961
Area
- Total 1,221,037 km2 (25th)
471,443 sq mi - Water (%) Negligible
Population
- 2011 estimate 50,586,757 (24th) - 2001 census 44,819,778 - Density 41.4/km2 (169th)
107.2/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2011 estimate - Total $555.340 billion - Per capita $10,977[6]
GDP (nominal) 2011 estimate - Total $422.037 billion[6] - Per capita $8,342[6] (104th)
Gini (2006) 67.4[7] (very high) (2nd)
HDI (2011) 0.619 increase (medium) (123rd)
Currency Rand (ZAR)
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
Drives on the left
ISO 3166 code ZA
Internet TLD .za
Calling code +27

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces, with 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline[8][9] on the Atlantic and Indian oceans.[10] To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave