South Africa is a beautiful country. It features numerous creatures that can't be found anywhere else on the planet. This country, though, has also had many downfalls. For example, up until 1996, black residents of South Africa were denied their freedom. Today, even though they have their freedom, they still have many problems.

South Africa is a large country compared to most of the countries in Africa. The area is 1,219,912 square kilometers, and is almost twice the size of the state of Texas. Though the area of this country is huge, there are no rivers in its boundaries.

People have lived in South Africa for thousands of years, although that name does not carry that far back. The Zulus, a tribe, dwelled on the coast for about 1,500 years. The first European explorers to venture to this land were the Portuguese. They explored South Africa in 1488, but the first white settlement was created about 200 years after that, in 1652.
One powerful native leader that lived between 1787 and 1828 was named Shaka. He conquered the domain between the Drakensburg Mountains and the sea. Shaka's half-brother, Dinjane, replaced Shaka. Dinjane was defeated and deported bye the Voortrekkers in the battle Blood River. Later on, they defeated the British troops in the battle Isandhiwana.
Slavery was annihilated in 1836, and an independent Boer Republic was created inbetween 1852 and 1854. They were conquered in 1879.

43,500,000 people in South Africa. Native Africans make up about 75% of the population, 14% are white, 9% are colored people, and the other 2% are Asian or Indian. More than half of these people live in urban areas. Religious beliefs include Christianity, the Islamic and Jewish religion, traditional African beliefs, and the Hindu religion. In this country, there are 11 official languages. Also, everyone is required to 7-15 years of schooling.

The president of South Africa is Nelson Mandela, and the capital Cape Town. In this country, they use rand as their currency. One rand is equal to 100 U.S. cents. One thing that makes South Africa different from other countries is the fact that there are two countries located inside the country. They are Lesotho and Swaziland.

Europeans first came to South Africa because of the gold and diamond deposits in 1870. Today, the country has many natural resources. They include gold, chromium, untimony, coal, iron ore, magnesuium, nickel, tin, phosphates, uranium, gem stones, dianmonde, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas, lead, and zinc.