The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 km coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory.
There are only two major rivers: the Limpopo, a stretch of which is shared with Zimbabwe, and the Orange (with its tributary, the Vaal) which runs with a variable flow across the central landscape from east to west, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at the Namibian border.
Diversity is a key feature of South Africa, where 11 languages are recognised as official.
Very much Africa’s superpower, South Africa has the continent’s biggest economy. Along with China, Brazil, Russia and India, South Africa is a member of the BRICS club of emerging world economic powerhouses.
