South Africa’s lion, wildebeest, cheetah and springbok, are four of the seven fastest mammals on earth.
There is Boulders Beach, Cape Town. These are where you can swim with colonies of Jackass penguins.
With more than 6 million trees in Johannesburg, it is believed to be the site of the largest man-made forest on earth. All over the world!
The biggest and oldest one-day marathon in the world, the Comrades Marathon, is run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, in Kwazulu Natal. One of the coolest South Africa facts!
There is a river called Blyde River Canyon. Although the Blyde River Canyon is only rated third largest in the world, it is believed to be the biggest “green” one on earth.
There is Rooibos/Redbush tea. These are naturally caffeine-free and are only found in the Cederberg, Western Cape.
The African elephant is the largest land mammal in the world. The African bush elephants can weigh up to 11 tons and live up to 70 years! If you are a wildlife lover, the next few South Africa facts will certainly pique your curiosity.
The kingdom of Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa. See the list of other landlocked countries in the world.
South Africa is home to the tallest animal in the world, the giraffe. Isn’t this a fascinating South Africa fact for the animal lover.
It has a big bridge. The Bloukrans Bridge, Western Cape, is the highest commercial natural bungee jump in the world.
Table Mountain is one of the iconic landmarks of South Africa. It is one of the oldest mountains in the world.
Nelson Mandela has six different names in South Africa. At birth, he was Rolihlahla Mandela. On his first day of school, his teacher gave him the name Nelson, following the custom back in the 1920s to give all children English names as English colonials ‘couldn’t’ pronounce African names.
The world’s largest visible crater is in South Africa. Around 2,030 million years ago a meteor the size of a mountain (about 10 km across) fell to earth in South Africa’s Free State making a crater 300 km across; it is the oldest crater from either a comet or meteorite and the site of the largest energy release in history.
The meandering 850km road through Cape Winelands is the world’s longest wine route. Route 62 runs between Cape Town, Constantia to Port Elizabeth, via Oudtshoorn and the Garden Route, embracing 350 years of wine making as it passes classic Cape-Dutch homesteads, green mountains, 200 cellars and miles and miles of vines.
South African fish migration is so huge you can see it from space. Between May and July, millions of small silver fish travel in vast shoals from the cold waters off South Africa’s Cape Point up to the coastlines of the northern Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal.
South Africa has three capital cities. Cape Town (Legislative), Pretoria (Administrative), and Bloemfontein (Judicial).
Bones found in South Africa help support the theory that modern humans originated in Africa. Fossilized bones from hominids dating back between 4.5 and 2.5 million years were found in limestone caves some 50 km northwest of Johannesburg.
The aboriginal people of South Africa are the San and the Khoi. The hunter-gather Sans and pastoral Khoi together became known as the KhoiSan and lived in what is now the Western Cape around 300 AD.
There are around 3,000 shipwrecks off the coast of South Africa. The 3,000km of coastline, including the infamous Cape of Good Hope and the coastline of the Eastern Cape, have been claiming seafaring victims for centuries.
The Dutch and the British fought over South Africa. The first Europeans settlers were Dutch traders on the Europe-Far East spice route who founded Cape Colony (now Cape Town) in 1652.
For nearly 50 years, there was a state of apartheid – white minority rule – in South Africa. When the Afrikaaner Nationalist Party came to power in 1948 their policy of apartheid (separateness) segregated blacks and whites, forced hundreds of thousands of people to resettle in black ‘homelands’, and imprisoned, killed or sent opponents into exile.
The South African flag was used for the first time on Freedom Day 1994. The V-shape symbolizes the coming together of the different elements in South African society and moving ahead in unity.
The national animal of South Africa is the Springbok, the only southern African gazelle. You can spot them on open bush and grassland by water. The Springbok is also the emblem and nickname of the South African national rugby team.
There are 11 official languages, each with equal status, in South Africa isiZulu (the most commonly spoken), Afrikaans, isiXhosa (2nd most common), siSwati, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Sepedi, isiNdebele, Setswana, Tshivenda, and English, which is the language of business, politics and the media.
Almost 80% of South Africa’s population is Christian. The other 20% is Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, or other religions.
In 2006, South Africa became the first African country and the fifth country in the world to recognize same-sex marriage. While the rest of the African continent is fiercely homophobic, South Africa is a world leader in gay rights.
South Africa has hosted the football (2010), cricket (2003) and rugby (1995) world cups. It is the only country in the world other than England to have done so.
South Africa hosts the world’s largest bicycle race. The 35,000 riders took part in the109-km Cape Town Cycle Tour race across Cape Town’s south peninsula and along the spectacular, mountainous coastal road called Chapman’s Peak Drive.
South Africa is the largest producer of platinum in the world. In 2014 it produced 110,000kg, more than four times the amount of the next biggest producer, Russia.
South Africa is the Rainbow Nation. Of South Africa’s almost 55 million population (Stats SA July 2015 estimate), around 80% is African, about 9% is white and just under 9% is mixed race.
The world’s largest diamond was found in the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa on 25 January 1905. The 3,106-carat stone weighed 1.33 pounds and was called the Cullinan after the owner of the mine.
The world’s second-largest brewing company is in South Africa. SABMiller was founded as South African Breweries in 1895.
The first successful heart transplant was in a Cape Town hospital by Dr Christiaan Barnard on 3 December 1967. Additionally, the CAT (Computed Axial Tomography) Scan, is used in hospitals to produce 3D images of the human body’s internal structures to detect disease, was developed by South African physicist Allan Cormack and British colleague Godfrey Hounsfield.
The swimming pool vacuum cleaner is a South African invention. Hydraulic engineer Ferdinand Chauvier invented the KreepyKrauly in 1974, which used water pressure to suck up leaves and bits of dirt from the pool.
South Africa is part of BRICS. This is an acronym referring to an association of the top five main emerging world markets. Consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, BRICS represents 42% of the world’s population.
South Africa was once the world’s number one producer of gold. It produces a lot of gold.
In 2014 reports ranked South Africa sixth in the world. However it produces around 6% (164.5 tonnes) of the world’s precious metal from its 35 mines.
South Africa is full of record-breaking animals. It’s where you’ll find the largest land mammal (elephant), the largest bird (ostrich), the tallest animal (giraffe), the largest fish (whale shark), the largest reptile (leatherback turtle), the fastest land mammal (cheetah) and the largest antelope (eland).
South Africa is the only country in the world to build and then decide to dismantle the whole of its nuclear weapons program. Former president Frederik Willem de Klerk said South Africa had built six crude atomic bombs and had started a seventh during a 15-year clandestine project, when it decided to voluntarily dismantle its arsenal in 1989.
South Africa has one of the world’s most luxurious trains. Up to 72 passengers can travel in lavish wood-panelled Rovos trains; the Royal Suites occupy half a carriage and have full-sized bathrooms, separate shower, permanent double bed and two armchairs.
South Africa has 11 official languages. They are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu.
It is estimated that over 40% of all the gold yet to be discovered is in South Africa. In 2010 South Africa became the first country in Africa to host the Football World Cup.
South Africa is home to the Big Five. They consists of lions, leopards, black rhinos, African elephants and African buffalos
Robben Island in Table Bay was the place where Nelson Mandela. The first democratically elected president of South Africa, was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years in jail.
South Africa has the longest continuous wine route on Earth. Route 62, which is 850 kilometres long, is believed to be the longest wine route in the world. It can be found between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth which connect the east and the western coasts of the country.
Of nine of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, four of them can be found in South Africa, with the very oldest in Barberton, Mpumalanga. The Makhonjwa Mountains, or Barberton Greenstone Belt, are considered to be the very oldest mountains in the world.
South Africa has some of the fastest mammals on Earth. Of the fastest animals in the world, South Africa is home to four namely:
South Africa has one of the largest man-made forests in the World. Johannesburg, or referred to either as “Jozi” or “The City of Gold”, is the largest city in South Africa and one of the largest urban areas in the world.
Although it is only the third largest in the world, the Blyde River Canyon is believed to be the largest “Green” one on Earth. This breath-taking natural feature is in the Motlatse Canyon Nature Reserve in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Rooibos (Redbush) tea can only be found in the Cederburg, Western Cape. Aspalathus linearis, or more commonly known as Rooibos, is a member of the Fabaceae plant family closely resembling a broom.
Rooibos (Redbush) tea can only be found in the Cederburg, Western Cape. Aspalathus linearis, or more commonly known as Rooibos, is a member of the Fabaceae plant family closely resembling a broom.
Rooibos (Redbush) tea can only be found in the Cederburg, Western Cape. Aspalathus linearis, or more commonly known as Rooibos, is a member of the Fabaceae plant family closely resembling a broom.
Rooibos (Redbush) tea can only be found in the Cederburg, Western Cape. Aspalathus linearis, or more commonly known as Rooibos, is a member of the Fabaceae plant family closely resembling a broom.
Rooibos (Redbush) tea can only be found in the Cederburg, Western Cape. Aspalathus linearis, or more commonly known as Rooibos, is a member of the Fabaceae plant family closely resembling a broom.