Embracing South Africa

To fully experience South Africa as a country, one must embrace all that is South Africa, including the diverse cultural backgrounds, languages, and the many beautiful natural sites that this country has to offer.

To see nature in its absolute majestic form, South Africa, has many hiking trails, wilderness campsites, and outdoor activities to take in nature.

South Africa has a population of over 60 million people and is the world’s 23rd most populous nation. The vast land covers an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres (471,445 square miles). South Africa has three capital cities: executive Pretoria, judicial Bloemfontein and legislative Cape Town.

The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of South Africans are of Black African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages. The remaining population consists of Africa’s largest communities of European (White South Africans), Asian (Indian South Africans and Chinese South Africans), and Multiracial (Coloured South Africans) ancestry.

It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (former Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the most populous country located entirely south of the equator. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with a diversity of unique biomes and plant and animal life.

South Africa’s remoteness—it lies thousands of miles distant from major African cities such as Lagos and Cairo and more than 6,000 miles (10,000 km) away from most of Europe, North America, and eastern Asia, where its major trading partners are located.

Language demographics

The most common language spoken as a first language by South Africans is Zulu (23%), followed by Xhosa (16%), Afrikaans (14%). English is the fourth most common first language at 9.6%, however, it is the most dominant language in Government and the media.

The two main branches of languages, which majority of South Africans speak derives from the Sotho-Tswana branch or the Nguni branch.

The dominant indigenous African languages can be divided into geographical zones: Nguni language dominates south-eastern part of the country (Indian Ocean) and the Sotho-Tswana language dominates northern part of the country (inland)

Sotho-Tswana branch

South Sotho
North Sotho
Tswana

Nguni branch

Zulu
Xhosa
Swati
Ndebele

The official languages spoken are:

English
isiZulu
isiXhosa
isiNdebele
Afrikaans
Siswati

Sepedi
Sesotho
Setswana
Tshivenda
Xitsonga

Other languages spoken in South Africa

There are many other indigenous languages spoken in South Africa, however, due to the immigration of from other countries the following languages have grown significantly:

Greek
Gujarati
Hindi
Portuguese
Tamil
Urdu

Yiddish
Italian
Dutch
French
German
Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese)

South Africa culture

South Africa has been famously referred to as the rainbow nation because it is made up of so many diverse cultures and religions. Contained within South Africa’s borders are Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Tswana, Ndebele, Khoisan, Hindu, Muslim, and Afrikaner people to name but a few. All of these people are united by calling South Africa home, and therefore their lives all contribute to forming a part of the country’s heritage, identity and culture. Understanding that South Africa is composed of all these various influences is essential for helping South Africans to understand and respect each other and to learn from each other’s cultural practices. This is part of the healing that democracy has brought after culture was used to divide South Africans in the past.

Heritage

There are typically two types of heritage: natural and cultural.

Natural heritage refers to the environment and natural resources, while cultural heritage refers to the community of people, sense of identity, history, etc.

World Heritage Sites in South Africa

A World Heritage Site is declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). There are two types of World Heritage Sites: the first represents cultural and the second natural heritage.

Cultural sites

Cultural heritage sites must show a masterpiece of human creativity or an important exchange of human values over a long period of time. This exchange must be seen in architecture or technology, the planning of the town or city and the design of the landscape. It must show evidence of a tradition or civilisation that has disappeared or is still alive. It can also be a particularly good example of a type of building, group of buildings, and use of technology or reflect important stages in human history.

A place where humans settled and used the land in a way that represents their culture can also be a cultural heritage site, especially if the area is affected by change that cannot be reversed. The authenticity and the way the site is protected and managed are also important factors.

Natural sites

Natural sites that can be considered to become World Heritage Sites must display major stages in the earth’s history. They can be in fossils, rocks or other geological features.

If an area contains rare natural formations, like unique rock shapes, or is incredibly beautiful, or has habitats and species of animals and plants that can only exist there, it becomes important to protect it. This also makes it a World Heritage Site. As with cultural sites, preservation is especially important.

Some special places fall into both cultural and natural heritage sites and in 1992 UNESCO decided that places that show the relationship between people and their environment could also be cultural landscapes.

South Africa has 8 places declared as World Heritage Sites. These are:

The iSimangaliso Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park
The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park
Robben Island
The Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and environs
The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape
Vredefort Dome
The Cape Floral Region
The Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape

There is much more to be said about South Africa, however, visiting South Africa can only help but fall in love with it.

Embrace South Africa, its people, its cultures, its heritage, and its beauty. The breath-taking view of the South African sunset leaves the desire to only want more and be part of this diverse culture.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa

https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa

https://www.gov.za/about-sa/south-africa-glance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretoria

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloemfontein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa#Other_significant_languages_in_South_Africa

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/defining-culture-heritage-and-identity

https://www.intergate-immigration.com/blog/south-african-provinces/