(4.79 out of 5)
(4.05 out of 5)
Fast Facts
South Africa is a nation of diversity, with over 48 million people and a wide variety of cultures, languages and religious beliefs.- South Africa’s most popular sports are soccer, rugby and cricket.
- Eleven official languages are recognized in the constitution: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
- English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life; however, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language.
- South Africa has the largest European, Indian and racially-mixed communities in Africa.
- By population and by land mass, South Africa is the 25th largest country in the world.
- There are three capital cities: Pretoria, also called Tshwane (administrative capital); Cape Town (legislative capital); and Bloemfontein, also called Mangaung (judicial capital).
- South Africa has the largest economy of all members of the African Union.
- About a quarter of the population is unemployed and lives on less than US$1.25 per day.
- It is estimated that there are 1,200,000 orphans in South Africa.
- According to the 2001 national census, Christians accounted for 79.7% of the population. This includes Zion Christian, Pentecostal (Charismatic), Roman Catholic, Methodist, Dutch Reformed, Anglican and other. Islam accounted for 1.5% of the population, Hinduism about 1.3%, and Judaism 0.2%. The remaining 15.1% had no religious affiliation.
- It is estimated that Islam is the fastest growing religion of conversion in the country.
