Portal:Africa/Countries/Selected country/45

Flag of the Republic of South Africa	Coat of arms of South Africa (heraldic)

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the African continent. It borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho. South Africa is often called the "Rainbow Nation", a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later adopted by then President Nelson Mandela.

South Africa is an ethnically diverse nation with the largest white, Indian, and racially-mixed communities in Africa. Black South Africans, who speak nine officially-recognized languages and many more dialects, account for slightly less than 80% of the population. Racial strife between the white minority and the black majority has played a large part in the country's history and politics, culminating in apartheid, which was instituted in 1948 by the National Party (although segregation existed prior to then). The laws that defined apartheid began to be repealed or abolished by the National Party in 1990 after a long and sometimes violent struggle. (Read more...)