South Africa and Nigeria

The Republic of South Africa lies at the far south of Africa on the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts; its area is about 1.22 million km² and its population about 63 million. It sits on important sea routes linking the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and has big ports such as Cape Town and Durban. South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three capitals: Pretoria (government), Cape Town (parliament) and Bloemfontein (Supreme Court of Appeal). The largest city and economic centre is Johannesburg. In its nature, the Drakensberg lie in the east, the Cape ranges in the south, the Highveld plateau in the centre and north, and plains in the west. The country is very rich in minerals: coal, manganese, chromium, uranium, gold, platinum, diamonds and other metals; it leads the world in platinum and chromium reserves. The climate is hot and dry in the centre and west and humid subtropical on the east and south coast; water is scarce. Most people are indigenous Africans, about 7 % are of European descent, some of them Afrikaners, who speak Afrikaans, a language derived from Dutch; multilingualism is strong, with 12 official languages. People are dense in the eastern industrial areas and on the coast, and very sparse in the western desert. Natural increase is lower than in other Tropical African states, and urbanisation is about 68 %. South Africa has one of the most developed economies in Africa: mining, engineering, car assembly, chemicals and financial services. Farming is intensive on a small part of the land (about 15 %); fruit, grapes (wine), cattle, sheep and ostriches. Tourism includes Cape Town, Kruger National Park and the coasts.