South Africa

Geographical

South-Africa is sometimes called: The land where a whole world is in. This should give you an impression of how much different types of land, languages, races and cultures the land has. With about 1.221.040 km² and with about 43.715.000 inhabitants it’s not that weird that there’re different types of people and cultures. It’s 25 times bigger then the Netherlands. 
South Africa has 9 provinces. The provinces each feature their own distinctive landscapes, vegetation and climate. The provinces are: Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Free State, North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Northern Province. 
South-Africa has 5 neighbouring countries. Those are Namibia, the Republics of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and the Kingdom of Swaziland. There’s also a small country inside south-Africa, it’s called the Kingdom of Lesotho. This small country depends very much on South-Africa. 
The capital of South Africa is Pretoria. The highest mountain in South Africa is the Makheke: it’s 3461 meters high. 
The coast is more then 3000 km wide. South Africa is bounded by two big oceans: the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It has a lot of rivers, the longest is the Orange: its 2100-km long. 

Toerism

South Africa is a beautiful country to visit. 
The climate is very different: on the left of South Africa there are big desserts and on the other side high mountains. Each landscape had is own climate.
South Africa has one of the biggest national parks: Kruger National Park. It’s more then 400 km long and its square is 19.485 km². It has a lot of different plants and animals, like 507 different birds, 147 different mammals, 114 different reptiles and almost 40 different sorts of fish. You can visit the park and you can sleep there in 21 camps with places for almost 6000 people in caravans, tents or houses. In the park you can take a safari bus. The bus rides you to beautiful places where you can photograph animals, or feed them. But you have to be careful because there are wild animals: they can be dangerous. It’s also possible to have a walk with a guide, he brings you to places where you never come when you are alone. Many people go to the Kruger National Park because there is a white rhino, and that’s very special. 
But also outside the Kruger National Park South Africa has beautiful nature, frequently in reserves or in National Parks. 
The very large beaches close to Durban are very popular. And the big city Cape-Town is also very popular to visit, because that town was a very important city in the history. And there are beautiful monuments and other stuff. The Dragon Mountains has a beautiful nature with an enormous view. On a sunny day the view is more then 200 km. 
South Africa has a lot of public party days the biggest are: 27 April South Africa day, 16 June children’s day, 9 August women day. From 1 to 7 January there is in Cape-town Coon Carnival that’s a very big party with processions and appearances. There are a lot of more festivals but those are small ones.
So Africa is a very beautiful country to visit because it has a lot of different things to do and things to see.

Economy

Due to all different circumstances the economy of South-Africa has been bad in the past. Even so bad the country thought they couldn’t get out of the mess without the help of other countries. But with that little help the country has started recovering himself. In the beginning you couldn’t see the difference, but as the years passed by and you looked back at the beginning, you could see the country was already getting better. Now the country is back to reasonable. The government has a little money again and is using it good. Especially healthcare and education still needs a lot of money. Still I think the country will get there, also because of the rising amount of tourists going to the country. This brings money in the drawer. The country still needs money and people of other countries to help. In the Netherlands several organisations are doing this. When you are a member of such an organisation you pay a little amount of money monthly. When a lot of people do this you get a big amount of money monthly. With this the organisation can send people or the money to the country. This will help the country a great deal.

Climatic

The average rainfall in South-Africa is 464mm. 21 Percent of the country has a total rainfall of less than 200mm annually, 48 percent between 200 and 600mm and 31 percent more than 600mm. All together just pretty much rain.
Temperatures are very good predictable in South-Africa. In winters the temperature would probably not go down more then to 11° degrees Celsius. In summer 32° degrees Celsius is very common. But that could get higher.

Money

In South-Africa they pay with rands. A rand is probably worth half a euro. The rand comes in coins of 1, 2 and 5, and notes of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 rands. Just like a euro a rand exists of 100 cents.

Crime

South-Africa has a lot of criminality in its cities. Especially in the big cities it is important to watch your stuff. There are a lot of unemployed people who make their living stealing. Especially rich tourists are their victims. Also a lot of cars get stolen. This sort of car hijacing is happening all day long. 

Languages

There’re 20 different languages spoken in South-Africa. Zulu is the most common. After Zulu African, English, French, Greek, Chinese, Xhosa and Venda are most common. The rest are all “Black talks”. A mixture of different languages formed in many years. All the tribes have 1 language they all understand. Nguni. This also is a mixture of different languages.

Inhabitants

South-Africa has, about 43.715.000 inhabitants. Of this about 30 million is black (75 %). The average amount of inhabitants exceeds with about 2,4% every year. This black people are all divided in 9 big groups of different races. The culture, habits and traditions of these races are very different. Every race exists of a number of tribes. The Zulu race exists out of 200 individual tribes. You could almost compare them to large families.

Conclusion

South-Africa is a great country to go to. Especially when you want to look at the different cultures and habits. The people in South-Africa are very friendly but it is hard to just trust them because of the high level of criminality in the country. South-Africa is a vacation land for some, and a discovery for others… 

Natural parks etx.

Kruger National Park
- Kruger National Park offers the best wildlife experience in Africa. This national park of nearly 2 million hectares has a superb diversity of life.
Fantastic are also the 12 main rest camps with accommodation from huts and safari tents to 3 bed bungalows, family cottages and luxury guest houses, there are also smaller bush lodges.

Please note the Kruger Park falls within a malaria area and the necessary pre-cautions must be taken. reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals

Kleinplasie living open air museum
- This living open air museum portrays the life style of the early farmers. Each building is representative of a certain agricultural industry in the Western Cape during the period 1690 to 1900.
The unique cultural and historical value of the Open Air Museum lies in the fact that it not only preserves early architecture and articles of use in industries, but also keeps these activities and industries alive.

Venda
- Venda is a small area in the North Eastern corner of the Soutpansberg in the Northern Province. It offers a great diversity of landscapes and attractions which have considerable appeal to those in search of unspoilt natural beauty and who seek the opportunity to explore the history, culture and life-style of a most fascinating people. To visit Venda is to discover a little about the real Africa and a group that traces its roots back to the Great Lakes of Central Africa and the culture of Great Zimbabwe.
Venda has been called the Land of a Hundred Streams and also a Land of Legend, well-run tourism industry provides the visitors with camps, luxury rooms and touring facilities which allows them the opportunity to experience the culture and beauty of the Venda peoples.

South African National Parks
- Your venture to any of the South African National Parks will light your senses and transfer you into another world.
Inhale the clean, warm air of the South African bush. Fall asleep to the accompaniment of the bush, which may include the powerful roar of a lion, the laughter of hyaenas, and the shrill call of a jackal. 
The diversity of the South African National Parks will astonish you.