africa • ZAF
South Africa
Location marker · geographic overview
29° S / 24° ETHE WORLD, ONE COUNTRY AT A TIME
- Capital
- Pretoria / Bloemfontein / Cape Town
- Population
- 64,007,187 2024
- Area
- 1,221,037 km² (year unavailable)
- Languages source-listed
- Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
- Currency
- South African rand (ZAR)
- Geography
- Coastal country
Population: World Bank 2024. Other facts: REST Countries snapshot. Sources & limitations.
STAY A LITTLE LONGER
Discover South Africa
FROM THE TRAVEL GUIDE · South Africa
South Africa is rich in culture, fauna, flora and history. Africa's southernmost country is a large country with widely varying landscapes, 12 official languages, and an equally diverse population and is often known as the "Rainbow Nation".
Landscape & landmarks
Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to South Africa every year to see the country's many natural and cultural attractions. From wild elephants to stunning landscapes, cave paintings, colonial heritage and bustling townships, South Africa is an enchanting land of contradictions and great beauty.Read the see section ↗
Food & everyday culture
Potjiekos, a meat and vegetable stew made in a cast iron pot over an open fire. A favorite at braais. […] Bobotie, meatloaf with a Cape Malay influence, seasoned with curry and spices, topped with a savoury custard.Read the eat section ↗
Excerpts from Wikivoyage contributors, revision 2026-08-21. CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected excerpts; wiki formatting removed; omissions marked […]. Guide wording and any figures belong to this dated source; they do not replace the atlas statistics above. Food descriptions are not official national-dish designations.
A little more to discover +
- National flower
- Not yet verified
- Official national dish
- Not yet verified
- Representative food
- Not yet verified
- Subregion
- Southern Africa
- Calling code
- +27
- Internet domain
- .za
- Land border codes
- BWA, LSO, MOZ, NAM, SWZ, ZWE
Quick facts
- Traffic keeps to the left side of the road. Source ↗
- The country-code web domain is .za. Source ↗
- The source lists monday as the start of the week. Source ↗
Population: World Bank 2024. Other facts: REST Countries snapshot. Source-matched September 26, 2026; not live data. Sources & limitations.