South Africa - Research Article from Encyclopedia of Religious Practices

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 17 pages of information about South Africa.

South Africa - Research Article from Encyclopedia of Religious Practices

This encyclopedia article consists of approximately 17 pages of information about South Africa.
This section contains 5,007 words
(approx. 17 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the South Africa Encyclopedia Article

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

South Africa

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...

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This section contains 5,007 words
(approx. 17 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the South Africa Encyclopedia Article
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South Africa from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.