Essay on South Africa - 3526 Words

South Africa The Republic of South Africa is located on the southern tip of the continent of Africa. It is slightly less than twice the size of Texas, about 1,223,201 square kilometers. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland run from west to east along South Africa’s northern border. The country of Lesotho lies entirely within the borders of South Africa and is completely landlocked. The South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean surround the southern coast. South Africa is divided into nine provinces: the Northern Province, Kwazulu/Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, the North West Province, the Western Cape, the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape. South Africa also has three capital cities: Pretoria serves as the†¦show more content†¦The government used aerial photography for the first time to count the population where government officials couldnt access. A count of 30,986,920 citizens was reported. In 1992, the United Stated Bureau of the Census estimated that the to tal population of South Africa at 40.6 million people. In 1994, the South African government estimated it at 40.4 million after all ten homelands were included. That same year the United Stated Bureau of the Census estimated the total population at 43.9 million. In 1996 the population was estimated at 37,859,000, which is about 10 percent below the projections from earlier censuses. The South African Institute of Race Relations had also estimated that the population was 75.2 percent black, 13.6 percent white, 8.6 percent colored and 2.6 percent Asian (Library of Congress, 48). According to the Development Bank of South Africa, population growth declined from about 2.9 percent per year in the 1980’s to 2.4 percent in 1995. Today the population growth rate is estimated at 1.32 percent. Population growth was about 2.6 percent for blacks, 2.2 percent for coloreds, 1.9 percent for Asians and 1.0 percent for whites. The government estimates that by the year 2025 the population will have doubled. Life expectancy at birth was 62.7 years for males and 68.3 years for females in 1996. They both have lowered in 1999 to 52.68 years for males and 56.9 years for females. Life expectancy also varies by race. LifeShow MoreRelatedSouth Africa 1004 Words   |  5 Pages South Africa is known to be successful after the Apartheid but it really wasn’t. The South African Revolution also known as the time of the Apartheid took place during 1908-1994. It was a long struggle for the Africans, which included riots, protests, segregation and physical pain. During the period of the Apartheid, blacks were not treated with equal respect to the whites. They weren’t allowed to vote, hold office and the children couldn’t go to school with whites. It was a horrific time for blacksRead MoreSouth Africa812 Words   |  4 PagesThe history of South Africa encompasses over three million years. Ape-like hominids who migrated to South Africa around three million years ago became the first human-like inhabitants of the area now known as South Africa. Representatives of homo erectus gradually replaced them around a million years ago when they also spread across Africa and into Europe and Asia. Homo erectus gave way to homo sapiens around 100,000 years ago. The first homo sapiens formed the Bushman culture of skilled hunter-gatherersRead MoreSouth Africa3003 Words   |  13 PagesSouth Africa South African landscapes provide us with the lush greens of the jungle, the dry grass of the savanna, the majesty of the mountains, the eroded clay of the desert and the high-rise mortar of the city. A filmmaker can find there any background desired as the scenery for his motion picture, but variety is not the only true value of the African landscape. Here we find the lush, well tended greens that represent the wealth and control of the Europeans who have invaded the country; theRead MoreA better South Africa for the new South Africa Essay625 Words   |  3 PagesA better South Africa for the new South Africa The Apartheid struggle is not an anecdote about a few black people that lived under a suppressive government; it is a story about millions of black people who suffered tremendously under the oppressive classification system of the National Party. It is a story about bloodshed, suffering and tears. It is a story that serves as a painful reminder of the extent that a group of people would go to ensure that the purity of their race was conserved. The ApartheidRead MoreSouth Africa Essay1004 Words   |  5 PagesSouth Africa is a nation with a wonderful and varied culture. This country has been called â€Å"The Rainbow Nation†, a name that reflects the diversity of such amazing place. The different ethnic and cultural groups of the South Africa do, however, appreciate their own beliefs and customs. Many of these traditions, besides African culture, are influenced by European and Western heritage. The complex and diverse population of the country has made a strong impact to th e various cultures. There areRead MoreThe Apartheid Of South Africa Essay788 Words   |  4 PagesSouth Africa, after experiencing the apartheid, is trying their best to overcome the apartheid. Now, the country even has its own leader. He is Jacob Zuma. It is already his second term as a president.( News, B. (2016, August 5)) The country went over a lot of things, and the history of democratic political system is not very long for them. English and Dutch colonized South Africa in the seventeenth century. After South Africa got its independence from England, Afrikaner National Party became a majorityRead MoreThe Apartheid Of South Africa1750 Words   |  7 Pagesfirst black President of South Africa. Referred to as the living embodiment of black liberation, Mandela specifically fought against the government system of South Africa known as apartheid (Lacayo, Washington, Monroe, Simpson). Apartheid is an Afrikaan word meaning apartness and was a system of racial segregation for the South African people from 1948 until F.W. de Klerk became president in 1991. Although Nelson Mandela was both literally and metaphorically imprisoned by South Africa’s racist ideologiesRead MoreApartheid in South Africa711 Words   |  3 PagesRacial discrimination dominated South Africa in 1948, and this was further witnessed when the ruling party made the discriminatory apartheid policy into law, in the same year (Pfister, 2005). The Afrikaans word, which literally translates to racial discrimination ‘apartheid’, was legislated and it started with the Dutch and the British rulers. The initiators of apartheid applied it to all social nature of the South African people. For instance, the majority of the population who were Africans wasRead MoreApartheid in South Africa1154 Words   |  5 Pagesend to Apartheid in South Africa because he was a believer in basic human rights, leading both peaceful and violent protests against the white South African Government. His beliefs landed him in prison for twenty-seven years, almost three decades. In doing so, he became the face of the apartheid movement both in his country and around the world. When released from prison in 1990, he continued to honor his commitment to fight for justice and equality for all people in South Africa. In 1994, Nelson MandelaRead MoreThe Segregation Of South Africa846 Words   |  4 PagesAfrica is a country with many differe nt government parties, each having its own legislation. Although much of the country is of the non-white population, the government officials in South Africa were all white. This lack of diversity within the government led to the establishment of racial segregation, the term used for this segregation was apartheid. Many of the issues that led to the eventual establishment of segregation stemmed from the 1913 Land Act, â€Å"marked the beginning of territorial segregation