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.
Clockwise from top left:South African Marines stage for an operation in the Caprivi Strip, 1984; an SADF patrol searches the "Cutline" for PLAN insurgents; FAPLA MiG-21bis seized by the SADF in 1988; SADF armoured cars prepare to cross into Angola during Operation Savannah; UNTAG peacekeepers deploy prior to the 1989 Namibian elections; a FAPLA staff car destroyed in an SADF ambush, late 1975.
Following several years of unsuccessful petitioning through the United Nations and the International Court of Justice for Namibian independence from South Africa, SWAPO formed the PLAN in 1962 with material assistance from the Soviet Union, China, and sympathetic African states such as Tanzania, Ghana, and Algeria. Fighting broke out between PLAN and the South African security forces in August 1966. Between 1975 and 1988, the SADF staged massive conventional raids into Angola and Zambia to eliminate PLAN's forward operating bases. It also deployed specialist counter-insurgency units such as Koevoet and 32 Battalion, trained to carry out external reconnaissance and track guerrilla movements. (Full article...)
A male Scelophysa trimeni feeding on Arctotis decurrens in Port Nolloth, South Africa. This species of scarab beetle is found exclusively in South Africa. Males are covered in minute sky-blue scales while the scales of the females are sienna brown. Both are important pollinators in the region, especially for Mesembryanthemum and some daisy species.
... that the streets in Jamestown(pictured), in the Western Cape province of South Africa, are named after varieties of the main agricultural crop grown there since 1902?
In early 1799 Prudente was operating off South Africa, attacking British trade passing to or from the Cape Colony when the ship was discovered by British frigate HMS Daedalus under Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball. Prudente turned away and Ball gave chase, following the French ship closely. After five hours Daedalus caught Prudente and fired a raking broadside into the stern, disabling the French ship. For another hour the action continued at close range until Prudente was forced to surrender. (Full article...)
Bokkoms (or bokkems) is whole, salted and dried mullet (more specifically the Southern mullet, Chelon richardsonii, a type of fish commonly known in the Western Cape of South Africa as "harders"), and is a well-known delicacy from the West Coast region of South Africa. This salted fish is dried in the sun and wind and is eaten after peeling off the skin. In some cases it is also smoked. It is sometimes referred to as "fish biltong". (Full article...)
Image 4The British Empire is red on the map, at its territorial zenith in the late 1910s and early 1920s. (India highlighted in purple.) South Africa, bottom centre, lies between both halves of the Empire. (from History of South Africa)
Image 25Statue of Bartolomeu Dias at the High Commission of South Africa in London. He was the first European navigator to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa. (from History of South Africa)
Image 26Map of the black homelands in South Africa at the end of apartheid in 1994 (from History of South Africa)
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