Jump to content

Portal:South Africa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welcome to the
South Africa
Portal

Unity in Diversity

Introduction

Flag of South Africa
Flag of South Africa
Map of the South Africa within Africa.

The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the African continent. It borders the countries of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Eswatini, and entirely surrounds Lesotho.

South Africa has the largest population of people of European descent in Africa, one of the largest Indian population outside of Asia, as well as the largest Coloured (of mixed European, Asian and African descent) community in Africa, making it one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. Racial and ethnic strife between the black majority and the white minority have played a large part in the country's history and politics. The National Party began introducing the policy of apartheid after winning the general election of 1948; however, it was the same party under the leadership of F.W. de Klerk who started to dismantle it in 1990 after a long struggle by the black majority, as well as many white, coloured and Indian South Africans.

The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular free and fair elections have been held since 1994, making it a regional power and among the most stable and liberal democracies in Africa.

South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. It has the second largest economy in Africa after Nigeria, and the 34th-largest in the world. By purchasing power parity, South Africa has the 7th highest per capita income in Africa. Although being the second largest economy, South Africa has the most sophisticated economy in the continent, with modern infrastructure common throughout the country. The country is considered to be a newly industrialized country according to the World Bank classifications.

Boers at Spion Kop, 1900.
The Battle of Spion Kop (Dutch: Slag bij Spionkop; Afrikaans: Slag van Spioenkop) was a military engagement between British forces and two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during the campaign by the British to relieve the besieged city Ladysmith during the initial months of the Second Boer War. The battle was fought 23–24 January 1900 on the hilltop of Spioen Kop(a), about 38 km (24 mi) west-southwest of Ladysmith and resulted in a Boer victory. (Full article...)

Selected picture - show another

Noordhoek, Cape Town
Noordhoek, Cape Town
Photograph credit: Diego Delso
Noordhoek is a coastal town in the Western Cape, South Africa, located below Chapman's Peak on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula and is approximately 35 km (22 mi) to the south of Cape Town. The beach is a six-kilometre (3.7 mi) stretch of fine white sand used by walkers and horse-riders; winds are often strong and the sea is cold and wild. The neighbouring suburb of Kommetjie can be seen in the distance.

Did you know... - show different entries

Tswaing impact crater.


WikiProjects

Good article - show another

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

The common eland (Taurotragus oryx), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a large-sized savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. An adult male is around 1.6 m (5.2 ft) tall at the shoulder and can weigh up to 942 kg (2,077 lb) with a typical range of 500–600 kg (1,100–1,300 lb). Females are around 1.4 m (4.6 ft) tall and weigh 340–445 kg (750–981 lb). It is the second-largest antelope in the world, being slightly smaller on average than the giant eland. It was scientifically described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766.

Mainly a herbivore, its diet is primarily grasses and leaves. Common elands form herds of up to 500 animals, but are not territorial. The common eland prefers habitats with a wide variety of flowering plants such as savannah, woodlands, and open and montane grasslands; it avoids dense forests. It uses loud barks, visual and postural movements, and the flehmen response to communicate and warn others of danger. The common eland is used by humans for leather, and meat and has been domesticated in southern Africa. Eland milk contains more butterfat than cow's milk, and can keep longer without pasteurising. (Full article...)

Selected biography - show another

Jacques Henry Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricketer. As a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium swing bowler, Kallis is regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders ever. To date, he is the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 11,000 runs and 250 wickets in both one day and Test match cricket.

Kallis has played over 150 Test matches and boasts a batting average of just under 57 runs per innings. From October to December 2007 he produced a streak of five centuries in four Test Matches; with his century in the second innings of the third test against India in January 2011, his 40th in all, he moved past Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest scorer of Test centuries, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, who currently has 51 centuries.

Selected fare or cuisine - show another

Raw boerewors
Boerewors (pronounced [ˈbuːrəˌvɔrs]) is a type of sausage which originated in South Africa. It is an important part of South African, Zimbabwean, Zambian, Botswanan, and Namibian cuisine, and is popular across Southern Africa. The name is derived from the Afrikaans words boer (literally, a farmer) and wors ('sausage'). According to South African government regulation, boerewors must contain at least 90 percent meat or fat from beef, pork, lamb or goat. The other 10% is made up of spices and other ingredients. Not more than 30% of the meat content may be fat. Boerewors may not contain offal other than the casings, or any mechanically separated meat (as recovered through a process where meat and bone are mechanically separated). (Full article...)

Selected quote - show another

Desmond Tutu
We are the rainbow people of God! We are unstoppable! Nobody can stop us on our march to victory! No one, no guns, nothing! Nothing will stop us, for we are moving to freedom! We are moving to freedom and nobody can stop us! For God is on our side!

Selected panorama - show another

Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve
Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve
Credit: Elucidate

The Baviaanskloof - (Dutch for “Valley of Baboons”)

General images - show another

The following are images from various South Africa-related articles on Wikipedia.

Topics

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

Recognized content

New articles

This list was generated from these rules. Questions and feedback are always welcome! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.

Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2024-09-18 22:00 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.















{{{1}}}

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals
Purge server cache