South Africa
South Africa, the southernmost country on the African continent, renowned for its varied topography, great natural beauty, and cultural diversity, all of which have made the country a favoured destination for travelers since the legal ending of apartheid (Afrikaans: “apartness,” or racial separation) in 1994.
South Africa has borders with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Its surface covers 470,693 square miles, and it had more than 49 million inhabitants in 2009. Of the eleven official languages, the ones spoken by the most people are Zulu (24 percent), Xhosa (18 percent), Afrikaans (13 percent), Sepedi (9 percent), and English (8 percent).