# South Africa ### GOVERNAMENT: the republic ### CAPITAL: Pretoria ### LANGUAGE: Afrikaans, English ### TERRITORY: it is occupied by highlands rising east of the Dragons Mountains. Orange is one of the main rivers in the region along with its affluent Limpopo. ### MULTIETHANICAL POPULATION The population of SOUTH AFRICA has a diverse ethnic composition: it is made up of bantu, then the Europeans, the meticus and an Indian minority. Coexistence has never been easy until 1997 when the new constitution came into force that guarantees full rights to all ethnic groups. After the Second World War, a racist segregation (apartheid) was established. Today most of the color population is very poor, there are huge disparities between industrialized South Africa and rural South Africa. ### POPULATION AND THE CITY The highest density is recorded in the northeast region around Pretoria and Johannesburg. ### ECONOMICAL PROGRESS The distribution of the occupiers sees the first place in the tertiary, second in the industry and the last in agriculture. The industrial equipment is diversified, most closely related to the mining industry that exploits the immense mineral resources: gold and diamonds, platinum, iron, silver, uranium and coal. The services sector is growing. Good infrastructures and tourism, especially naturalistic. ### AGRICULTURE Agricultural production is largely destined for export. They produce cereals, vegetables, fruit of all kinds. There are also extensive vineyards of sugar, tobacco, sunflowers, peanuts, cotton, soybeans, tea, while forests provide valuable timber. ``` Mandela was the first South African president to be elected by universal suffrage and the first non-white to hold office; He was a civil rights activist and lawyer and had taken 27 years in prison for his work of recognizing the civil rights of members of non-white ethnic groups. ```