South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho (which is completely surrounded by South Africa). It has a long history of human habitation and is home to many different ethnic groups. The economy of South Africa is the second largest in Africa after Nigeria and it is also a member of the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
The first humans are thought to have arrived in South Africa around 100,000 years ago. The earliest evidence for human occupation comes from cave sites in the north-west of the country dating back to around 40,000 years ago. These early inhabitants were hunter-gatherers who slowly began to spread out across the country. By 2,000 years ago farming had begun to take root and different cultures and kingdoms began to emerge.
Over time various groups came into conflict with each other and wars were fought over land and resources. In 1652 the Dutch East India Company established a settlement at Cape Town which marked the beginning of European colonisation. The British took control of Cape Colony in 1806 but it was not until 1867 that they gained control over the whole of present-day South Africa. Colonisation brought great changes to the country as large numbers of white settlers arrived bringing with them their own culture and way of life. This often led to conflict with the indigenous people who were displaced from their traditional lands or forced into labour on white-owned farms.
In 1948, following years of campaigning by black activists such as Nelson Mandela, racial segregation was enshrined in law under Apartheid (literally “apartness”). This system segregated people by race into different areas known as “homelands” where they were denied citizenship rights and access to good education or jobs. Apartheid ended in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected as President in South Africa’s first democratic elections. Since then South Africa has been working hard to overcome its legacy of division and inequality but progress has been slow due largely to continuing economic problems such as high levels of unemployment