South Africa CGG3O Geography Located at the southern tip of Africa, with coastlines on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans Bordered on the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland Lesotho is entirely surrounded by South Africa Geography The interior of South Africa is a vast, flat, and sparsely populated scrubland, the Karoo, which is drier towards the northwest along the Namib desert In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well-watered, which produces a climate similar to the tropics Climate Temperate climate Northwest: Desert (Namib)
Southwest: Like Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers (produces much of the wine in South Africa) Further east on the south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape (the Garden Route) There is even skiing in the Drakensberg mountains (southeast) in the winter Language and Culture Fought over by Dutch and British since 1600s
About 80% of the South African population is of black African ancestry (9% white) Became independent in 1931 (controlled by whites) Based on the 1930 Land Act, over 90% of land was forcibly taken by white settlers, confining the indigenous people to 7% of the land Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution Two of these languages are of European origin: Afrikaans (Dutch) and South African English Economy Largest economy in Africa, and the 28th-largest in the world
One of only four countries in Africa classified as upper-middle income (along with Botswana, Gabon and Mauritius) But, about a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on less than $1.25 a day Tourism Very little tourism in South Africa from the 1960s to the 1990s South African culture and tourism was boycotted due to the countrys apartheid policy Apartheid The term apartheid (from the Afrikaans word for "apartness") was coined in the 1930s but as a policy goes back to the earliest days of white settelement After the primarily Afrikaner Nationalists came to power in 1948, the social custom of apartheid was systematized under law Apartheid The Population Registration Act of 1950 put all South Africans into three racial categories: Bantu (black African), white, or Coloured (of mixed race). A fourth category, Asian (Indians and Pakistanis), was added later Apartheid The system of apartheid was enforced by a series of laws passed in the 1950s: races assigned to different residential and business sections in urban areas restricted nonwhite residence to specific areas These laws further restricted the already limited right of black Africans to own land, entrenching the white minority's control of over 80% of South African land Apartheid In addition, other laws prohibited most social contacts between the races; enforced the segregation of public facilities and the separation of educational standards created race-specific job categories restricted the powers of nonwhite unions curbed nonwhite participation in government Apartheid Also in the 1950s, ten African "homelands" were created, administered by what were supposed to be reestablished "tribal" organizations The Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act of 1970 made every black South African a citizen of one of the homelands, effectively excluding blacks from South African politics Most of the homelands, lacking natural resources, were not economically viable and, being both small and fragmented, lacked the autonomy of independent states The End of Apartheid Antiapartheid pressure mounted within and outside South Africa in the late 20th century The South African government began to dismantle the apartheid system in the early 1990s In 1994 the country's constitution was rewritten and free general elections were held for the first time in its history, and with Nelson Mandela's election as South Africa's first black president, the last vestiges of the apartheid system were finally outlawed