The Most Interesting Facts about South Africa

Around the globe, only the Republic of South Africa is the country which has three official capitals. These are Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein.

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