South Africa
POPULATION 43,647,658
CHRISTIAN 74.1 percent
TRADITIONAL 18.3 percent
MUSLIM 1.4 percent
HINDU 1.3 percent
JEWISH 0.2 percent
OTHER 4.7 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The Republic of South Africa, the most developed country in sub-Saharan Africa, lies at the extreme southern tip of the continent. Historically South Africa has had six major ethnic groups—Khoisan, Bantu-speaking Negroid, Nguni, descendants of European settlers, Coloured (people of mixed race), and Asian (largely of Indian origin). In addition, there are 11 official languages—Sedepi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, IsiXhosa, and isiZulu.
In the 1990s South Africa, the last white-ruled nation-state in Africa, shifted relatively peacefully from apartheid and the threat of civil war to a true democracy. Freedom is protected by the constitution and by a number of bodies designed to restrict the power of the government. The greatest challenges remaining in South Africa are to eliminate widespread unemployment, poverty, and HIV/AIDS; to mobilize religious communities to address these problems; and to strengthen national unity. The new government has made determined attempts to improve the lives of all South Africans.
South Africans are intensely religious, and their faiths can be characterized as comprehensive and broad. Virtually 80 percent of the population professes some kind of faith in a recognized world religion.
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