Official status
No established state religion.
Status reference
Practice South Africa
No questions here on Civilizations, Historical flags — nothing recorded for South Africa.
South Africa
ZA / ZAF -29.0°, 24.0°
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. The country consists of nine provinces, and is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. South Africa also encloses Lesotho. Covering an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres, the country has a population of over 63 million people, making it the sixth-most populated country in Africa, and 24th-most in the world.
Read South Africa on Wikipedia · Recent news from South Africa
You have not been asked about South Africa yet.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE CALLED
South African
These are English demonyms for people from South Africa. A demonym describes a connection to a place; it does not mean everyone shares an ethnicity, language or religion.
Demonym source: mledoze/countries · Download the attributed dataset (ODbL)SAME LAND, DIFFERENT WORLDS
Civilizations, flags & standards
Modern borders are a starting point for exploring the past. These cultures and states occupied some of the same land; they were not the same country. Dates describe each civilization or state as a whole, not continuous rule over every place listed.
A sourced civilization and flag trail has not been added for South Africa yet. No ancient flag is inferred from the modern one.
Explore the history of this land · Browse civilizations & empires
Turning points
Practice this section around the world →
A few starting points, not a complete history.
- 1910
The Union of South Africa is formed under white minority rule.
- 1948
The National Party takes power and expands apartheid into a systematic state policy.
- 1994
The first democratic national election with universal adult suffrage is held.
Religion: state & society
Practice this section → 5 questions
An official religion is a legal status. The largest religious group is a population measure. Neither describes every person's beliefs.
Religious affiliation
Largest religious group: Christianity
2022 censusChristianity85.3%
Traditional African religion7.8%
Selected self-reported affiliation/belief categories.
Affiliation source & methodologyBEYOND THE MAP
South Africa in the study desk
Places and things the general-knowledge library connects to South Africa. Open one to follow its connections, then practise them with typed recall.
Geography 5
Food & drink 2
Choose your next rabbit hole
Where it is
Languages
Share of the population that speaks each. Click one to see every country that speaks it.
What it sells, and to whom
Every line is a thread: click a commodity or a partner to see who else trades in it.
Trades with
Farms and fisheries
- sugarcane
- maize
- milk
- soybeans
- potatoes
- wheat
Largest cities
| Johannesburg | 9,418,183 |
| Cape Town | 4,772,846 |
| Durban | 3,338,026 |
| Pretoria capital | 2,112,693 |
| Gqeberha | 1,190,000 |
Wars and conflicts
Conflicts this country is attached to. Click one to see the others. Each says what kind of claim it is: a principal belligerent is hand-checked against the modern state that succeeded the power that fought, while a recorded participant comes from the bulk import, which does not separate combat from funding, basing, occupation or reconstruction. Neither list is complete, so a country missing from a war may still have taken part — which is why the quiz no longer asks who fought in what.
World War II1939–1945
principal belligerent
World War I1914–1918
principal belligerent
Second Boer War1899–1902
principal belligerent
Mozambican Civil War1977–1992
principal belligerent
Korean War1950–1953
principal belligerent
Angolan Civil War1975–2002
principal belligerent
Rhodesian Bush War1964–1979
recorded participant
Form of government
Parliamentary republic.
Money, belief and alliances
Money
Belongs to
International Civil Defence Organisation
United Nations
World Meteorological Organization
International Development Association
Southern African Development Community
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
African Union
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
Commonwealth of Nations
Missile Technology Control Regime
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
UNESCO
Southern African Customs Union
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
World Health Organization
Nuclear Suppliers Group
Climate and geography
mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
Climate zone
Highest point
Landmarks and landscapes
Southern hemisphere.
In charge right now
Figures from its history
Nelson Mandela
First president of a democratic South Africa
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
Desmond Tutu
Archbishop and Nobel laureate
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist.
Shaka
King who forged the Zulu kingdom
Shaka kaSenzangakhona, also known as Shaka Zulu, Shaka the Zulu, and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828.
F. W. de Klerk
President who ended apartheid
Frederik Willem de Klerk was a South African politician who served as the final state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996.
Leaders before them
Corrected in an AI-assisted review of the imported data (2026-09-22), not yet checked against a named source: cities, languages.