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South Africa is bordered on the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; on the north by Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and on the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini, as well as the enclaved country of Lesotho.
It is the most populated country wholly south of the equator, as well as the southernmost country on the Old World’s mainland. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, having a wide range of biomes, plants, and animals.
South Africa is a multiethnic country with many different cultures, languages, and faiths.
The constitution recognises 11 official languages, the fourth-highest number in the world, reflecting the country’s pluralistic nature.
According to the 2011 census, Zulu (22.7 percent) and Xhosa (21.7 percent) are the two most commonly spoken first languages (16.0 percent ). The following two are European in origin: Afrikaans (13.5 percent) is a Dutch-derived language that is spoken by the majority of Colored and White South Africans; English (9.6%) is a remnant of British colonisation and is widely spoken in public and business settings.
The country is one of the few in Africa that has never suffered a coup d’état, and it has had regular elections for nearly a century. The great majority of black South Africans, however, did not gain democracy until 1994.
