Fact file

South Africa:

Government type: republic
Capital: Pretoria (administrative capital)
note: Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)

Geography:

Location: Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Climate: mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
Terrain: vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0m
Highest point: Njesuthi 3,408m

People:

Population: 43,997,828 (July 2007 est.)
Nationality: noun: South African(s) adjective: South African
Ethnic groups: black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)
Religions: Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Catholic 7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census)
Languages: IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% (2001 census)