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South Africa is the most southern country in Africa, and it is officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA).

In a world scale, the country is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and the world’s 24th-most populous nation.  The total area of the country by land, is 1,221,037 km2, and in 2015 the number of inhabitants was 54,956,900.

The capitals of South Africa are Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town. The largest city is Johannesburg.

The government is run by the Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, and the president is Jacob Zumo.

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Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in South Africa, when the white people ruled the country, and the population were defined and judged by their skin colour. The system was enforced in 1948, by the “National Party”.

The white people were a minority in South Africa, and they still are, and they had total control of the non-white population, of which Black Africans constituted the majority.

Under apartheid, the white so called nationalists controlled the rights and movements of black people, and everyone had to carry an identity card. They were called Dompas, and they specified their racial group and determined where they could be.

The apartheid regime ended in 1994, because the population started to stand up against the white people, after years of oppression. The resistance started mainly in 1923 when an organization called the African National Congress (ANC) was founded to stand up against apartheid.

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South Africa is also called the Rainbow Nation, because of its cultural and ethnic diversity.

South Africa's citizens come from all over the world and speak many languages, including the eleven official languages: English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Zulu, Venda and Xhosa. Out of these eleven languages, Zulu, Xhosa and Afrikaans have been stated in data to be the most spoken in South African homes.

About 80 percent of the inhabitants of South Africa, identify themselves as black. The other 20 percent is Caucasian and of European descent. Most of the inhabitants, are Christians, while Islam and Hinduism come in a second and Third place.

There are many different traditions in South Africa. For instance, the indigenous peoples Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Ndebele, Shangaan and Venda, have their own traditional cultures with special homes, dresses, pottery, art and cultural events. Many of these cultures believe in something spiritual, and has different rituals.

Today, such tribes are smaller, and many of the younger generations from the cultures have moved to the city. In the city, they either speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their home language. Here, the city is led by a Westernised lifestyle.

Today, the culture in South Africa has its own expression in the music, art and food. The music of South Africa has been affected by the slave trade, missionaries, European influences and old instruments of Africa. The songs also reflect to different music such as gospel, rock and jazz.

The art of South Africa is known to be some of the oldest artwork ever found. For instance, they have necklaces consisting of small snail shells with holes drilled into them (working as beads). These necklaces were found in a cave, and they had been there for about 75 000 years. There are also ancient rock paintings of the San people.

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South Africa is one of the five major emerging economies in the world. Since the apartheid regime ended in 1994, South Africa has developed into a large, fast-growing economy.

South Africa’s economy is the second largest in Africa, after Nigeria.
In South Africa, there is a lack of natural resources like water. The economy of South Africa was originally built on the natural resources, such as agriculture and mining.

Some of the natural resources you can find in South Africa today, are: gold, platinum, coal, iron ore, tin, uranium, diamonds, copper, salt, natural gas, zinc, silver, phosphate and chromium. Here there is mining of for instance platinum, gold and chromium.

Some of the principal products in the agriculture of South Africa, are: maize, sugar cane, fruits, potatoes, vegetables, tobacco, cotton, peanuts and sunflower seeds. Some livestock products are: sheep, goats, pigs, milk, eggs, beef and pork.

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Desmond Tutu (1931- ) is a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop.

He was born in Klerksdorp in South Africa. During his life, he has been an Anglican priest, and in 1978, he was the first black secretary general of the interdenominational South African Council of Churches.

In 1984 he became the second South African to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts of ending apartheid.

In 1995 he was selected to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by then South African President Nelson Mandela.

In 2009, Tutu was awarded the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

Later in 2013, he was awarded the 2013 Templeton Prize for his life-long work advancing both love and forgiveness among people around the world.

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Charlize Theron (1975- ) is a famous woman from South Africa.

She is both an actress, activist and Animal Rights Activist.

She has played in many successful movies, such as “North Country”, “Monster”, and “Snow White and the Huntsman”.

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni on August 7, 1975, and she first began appearing in films in the mid-1990s.

In 2008, Charlize Theron announced she had become a U.S. citizen. Still, the actress maintains her South African nationality.

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The British were not the first people to come to South Africa.

The country had been inhabited for thousands of years, by many indigenous tribes. Here, the first Europeans to settle in South Africa were Portuguese in the 15th century.

Still, it wasn’t until the 17th century that the Dutch were the first to establish permanent settlements in South Africa. They were called the Boers.

The British didn’t arrive until the 18th century, and they intended to rule the country – considering there were plenty of resources, and gold and diamonds here.

The Boers were against the British, and wouldn’t give up their land without a fight, which therefore led to the Boer War (1899-1902). Here the British won, and the Boer republics became British colonies.

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South Africa is the country who has the largest population of rhinoceros in the world.

There are two kinds of rhinoceros in Africa, the black rhino and the white rhino. According to WWF, there are around 4800 black rhinos and 20 000 white rhinos living in the wild. Not many rhinoceros survive in the wild.

In 2014, about 1,215 rhinos were killed in South Africa. This is a problem, especially considering that some countries are trading illegally in rhino horn, for instance China and Vietnam.

Still, a hundred years ago, the rhinoceros had been hunted almost to extinction. Today they are no longer considered critically endangered, even though they are regarded as vulnerable.

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Even though South Africa has accomplished freedom and democracy, it still suffers poverty, inequality, unemployment and HIV/AIDS. These factors affect how people live in the country. Still, compared to 1994, South Africa is overall a better place in the welfare and living standards and health.

The basic medical care is free in South Africa, but hospitals in poor areas often tend to be overcrowded and the medical services are lower in these locations. Because of this, the health of South Africans is much threatened by high levels of poverty and underfeeding.

For instance, population living in absolute poverty has fallen from 41 % to 31 % during the years 1994 and 2013. Also, households with access to potable water has raised to 96 % from 66 % in 2013 from 1994. The murder rate has also fallen today.

Still, there are some things that hasn’t gone the right direction yet. For instance, life expectancy was in 1994, 62 years. In 2013 it was 56 years. This means people die earlier than they used to. In addition, HIV prevalence among adults aged 20-64 was 2 % in 1994, and 18 % in 2013.

Today there are around 5.5 people who live with HIV/AIDS (means more than one in ten). This has caused many deaths, approximately 3 million. In addition, a quarter of people live on less than a dollar each day. There are other examples, but these are some of the most important ones in South-Africa, and they affect how people live.

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South African women and girls have for a long time been recognized as less worthy, and not as equal citizens.

It was not until the Bill of Rights, that they had the same rights as men.

Still, for instance the customary law gives black women a status of minors. Here the women are excluded from rights regarding children and poverty.

Today women and especially black women are economically disadvantaged. Many women end up working low-paid jobs, and they often make less money than men do for the same tasks.

In addition, South African women struggle with high rates of rape and violence.

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There are some problems in the number of students that pass school after pre-school, and graduate. Here there is a high drop-out rate.

In 2012, only four out of every ten pupils who start school, pass the matric, and there are only 5 % who pass maths with a mark above 50 %. In the end, only 12 % achieve high enough marks to get into university, and here, even fewer earn degrees to other universities.

Because of this, many students won’t earn much, and that is not good for the country, considering most of the citizens of South Africa are under the age of 39. Here the average age is only 24,9 years, which means that education, training and employment opportunities are the key to empowering South Africa’s future.

According to an article by Mail&Guardian, 80% of the school in South Africa could be dysfunctional. Here there are some newer statistics that suggest that South African pupils don’t have enough basic skills and knowledge compared to other peers around the world. Here the article further says that the education standards in South Africa are poor.

In South Africa, many young people are not used to reading, and reading is considered boring, not enjoyable or fun. Only the privileged schools have libraries in the country.

FunDza is a program that was made to learn people that reading is fun. Thanks to it, there are many teens and grownups who considers reading fun, and they learn more how to write, and read more frequently. FunDza has a great impact in their lives.

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Nelson Mandela
(1918-2013) was an important leader of the ANC, and one of the most important people in the fight against apartheid.

He stood up against the apartheid, and many people to joined him in the fight. Because of this, he had to serve 27 years in prison.

During his time in prison, the ruling National Party entered discussions to end apartheid with the ANC, because of all the resistance they had gotten from the population.

Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, and four years later, the first free elections were held in South Africa. Here, Nelson Mandela became the first ever black president who was elected democratically.

There was a peaceful transition from the white minority rule to the black majority government.

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In 2010, South Africa hosted the first FIFA World Cup on the African continent. This was a big step for the country, considering everything they had went through in the earlier years during apartheid.

The event in 2010 brought the population closer together, and made them more proud than ever. Thanks to the event, it also boosted their economy.

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Khoisan is the unifying name of the Sans and the Pastorals. The Sans are also called the Bushmen, while the Pastorals were previously known as the Hottentots.

The Khoisan were the first pastoralists in southern Africa, and they called themselves Khoikhoi, which means “men of men” or “the real people”. The Sans were hunter-gatherers.

When the Dutch settlers came in the mid-17th century, the Khoikhoi were the first native people to encounter them. Here, the Dutch took over land and farms, and exterminated and enslaved the Khoikhoi.

The Khoikhoi were called “Hottentots” by the European settlers, because their language was different from any European language.

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Balsvik, Lillian., Bratberg, Øivind., Henry, James Stephen., Kagge, Julia., Pihlstrøm, Rikke. (2015). Targets (4. Utgave/1. opplag 2015). Oslo: Aschehoug & Co. p. 234-241

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Expat Directory. 14.06.16. Education in South Africa. http://www.expatcapetown.com/education-in-south-africa.html (13.05.17)

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South African History. 14.03.17. Women’s Rights and representation. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/womens-rights-and-representation (10.05.17)

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Wikipedia. 11.05.17. Desmond Toto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu (13.05.17)

Wikipedia. 13.05.17. Economy of South Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Africa (13.05.17)

Wikipedia. 24.04.17. Khoisan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoisan (10.05.17)

Wikipedia. 1.04.17. Nelson Mandela. https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela (13.05.2017)

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WWF. Rhino Facts. http://www.wwf.org.za/what_we_do/rhino_programme/rhino_facts/ (13.05.17)