All of these wonders are better appreciated when you know a little bit more about its history, and significance to mankind. Let’s say you’re in the UK, come across Stone Henge and don’t know anything about it. You might just thing it’s just a pile of rocks. If you are planning a trip to South Africa, then it would be ideal to know South Africa Facts upon traveling to that beautiful place.

South Africa Facts: Colonization

Since its Africa, you might expect the people there to be dominantly black. The truth is that there are a lot of white people in South Africa, since it was colonized by the Europeans around the 14th century. One of the darker facts about South Africa was the time of the Apartheid. This was a legal system that forced the segregation of races. Black South Africans were stripped of their citizenship.

It was a trying time and many have stood against this bigotry. One of these men was Nelson Mandela. He fought against the Apartheid and was imprisoned for terrorism. He endured prison time for 27 years but eventually came out victorious; bloody, but unbowed. Now, South Africa enjoys equality just like in the United States, and the United Kingdom. It is now a place of harmony where people can live hand in hand together.

South Africa Facts: Great Beaches

If you consider yourself to be a beach bum then you should know about the beautiful coastline of South Africa. It is at these beaches that many stars choose to sit back and relax.

South Africa Facts: The languages

There are a lot of languages that are spoken in South Africa. The good thing for tourists is that English is widely spoken so it is easier to communicate because there is no language barrier. Other languages include Afrikaans, Zulu, Southern Ndebele, Northern and Southern Sotho, and Swazi.

There are so many beautiful things about South Africa, and it’s good to know that it has come a long way since the Apartheid. This way, you get to experience it even better, and further appreciate the little things that are going on there. It is even better if you know somebody there so you can deeply experience the culture there. GP

This country is one of the few around the world which have many official languages. Actually, it has eleven official languages which include Afrikaans, Setswana, Xhosa, Sesotho, Zulu, and English.

Despite the fact that this country is categorized as a third world country, its natural resources and exports provide a contrasting view of its richness. The country’s main exports are gold and diamonds. It also supplies foreign countries with metal, minerals, and other precious stones. These days, it is also associated with car and machinery exports.

The country leads the rest of the world when it comes to mining and minerals. South Africa is the world’s source of ninety percent of platinum metals, eighty percent of manganese and seventy-three percent of chrome.

South Africa is also known as the world’s biggest producer of the very popular macadamia nuts. These nuts and its oil extracts are exported to various countries around the globe.

May 31st   celebrates the country’s independence. Contrary to the Independence Day celebration of other countries, this national holiday is not a commemoration of their freedom from foreign control. Rather, it serves as the annual celebration of the day when South Africans were granted the right to vote for the first time.

Meteor Scar

The country’s territory is home to our planet’s oldest meteor scar. The scar is called the Vredefort Dome and it is located near the Vaal River in Parys. According to geological studies, the meteor that caused the scar crashed on the Earth’s surface about two billion years ago.

The Grasslands

The grasslands of South Africa provide a great venue for ecological exploration. These grasslands offer an average count of thirty species for every square kilometer. As such, these South African territories are far more biologically diverse than most rainforests around the world.

The Provinces

The country is only composed of nine provinces. These include Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, Northern Province, Free State, and Eastern Cape.

Vilakazi Street in Soweto is the only street around the globe which serves as the home of two winners in the Nobel Peace Awards. These two winners are Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The African Diamonds

In 1905, the world’s largest diamond was found in South Africa. The Cullinan weighed 3,106.75 carats. It was then cut into several pieces. Among the most prominent pieces were the Great Star of Africa which weighed 530.2 carats and the Lesser Star of Africa that weighed 317.40 carats. These precious stones are now part of the jewelry collection of the British crown. The rest of the Cullinan were divided into 104 other diamonds. GP