The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is one of the founding members of the African Union, and has the largest economy of all the members.
1) South Africa is divided in nine provinces and has three capital cities :
Pretoria , located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, is the executive capital. Bloemfontein, situated in the Free State Province, is the judicial capital. And Cape Town , situated near the southern tip of South Africa, the largest of the three, is the legislative capital.
2) This latter is also Affectionately known as the "Mother City", because it was the first established town in South Africa.
3) South Africa, was originally a black community, whereas it’s now known for being ethnically diverse. Indeed, it can be considered as a multicoloured country since the first Europeans’ settling in 1652 by the Dutch seafarer Jan van Riebeeck and his crew.
4) The arrival of the Dutch in the 17th century created first tensions between both communities. Later the discovery of diamonds and gold triggered the European settlement that caused the culmination of longstanding tensions in Southern Africa. Of these tensions is born the first overseas conflict, the South African War of 1899-1902, often called the Boer War, opposing the British Empire and the two independent boer republics : the Boer South African Republic and its Orange Free State ally.
5) The black and white communities used to live together since then, but, In 1948, the implementation of racial segregation begun under Dutch and British colonial rule. Then was born the apartheid which was abolished in 1991. On 27 April 1994, South Africans celebrated the country’s first democratic elections. Nelson Mandela become the first president of the New South Africa. Today, 27 April, is called Freedom Day in South Africa.
6)South Africa got a particular past, between the colorizations, the wars and the apartheid, that made it now known for a diversity