Capital(s): Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Pretoria
Continent: Africa
Currency: South African Rand (ZAR)
Driving Side: Left
Dialling Code: +27
Official Language(s): Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, English, Southern Ndebele, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Population: 54,956,900
Time Zone: SAST (UTC+2)
Located at the southern tip of the continent Africa, the Republic of South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and world's 24th-most populous nation. Sitting on a coastline along the Indian and South Atlantic oceans; bordered in the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and on the east by Mozambique and Swaziland, South Arica is well known for its Wines, Wildlife and Gold.
The country is divided into 9 Provinces – the Eastern Cape (Bhisho), Free State (Bloemfontein), Guateng (Johannesburg), KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg), Limpopo (Polokwane), Mpumalanga (Nelspruit), North West (Mahikeng), Northern Cape (Kimberly) and Western Cape (Cape Town). Each province is governed by a unicameral legislature. They are further divided into 52 districts - 8 metropolitan and 44 district municipalities. The district municipalities are further subdivided into 226 local municipalities.
South Africa is the only country with three capitals – Bloemfontein (Judicial), Cape Town (Legislative) and Pretoria (Administrative). The constitution recognises 11 official names and languages. In 2010, the country hosted the first ever FIFA World Cup on the continent.