South Africa

History & People

Most South Africans trace their ancestry to Bantu-speaking people

Biggest ethnic groups are Sotho, Zulu, and Xhosa 1600s—the Dutch settled in South Africa

Known as the Boers (“farmers”)

German, Belgian, and French settlers also came to the area

These two groups became known as Afrikaners Spoke their own language, Afrikaans

Afrikaners & the British

The Afrikaans pushed the native Africans (blacks) off the best land

Brought laborers from India to work 1800s—British came to South Africa

Discovery of gold and diamonds attracted British settlers

1902—Boer War—British defeated the Afrikaners 1910—Afrikaner and British territories became the

“Union of South Africa” Part of the British empire; ruled by whites (even though

they were the minority)

Apartheid

African National Congress (ANC) Founded in 1912 by black South Africans to gain

political power Apartheid

Set up by whites in the 1930s System that made it illegal for different races or

ethnic groups to mix Limited the rights of black South Africans

Apartheid, cont. Blacks struggled against apartheid in South

Africa Most of the rest of the world saw apartheid in

South Africa as unfair United Nations declared that apartheid was “a

crime against humanity” Many countries cut trade with S. Africa 1991—Apartheid ended

S. Africa held it’s first democratic election 1994 Nelson Mandela was elected as the 1st black

president

South Africa Today

Resources!!! World’s largest producer and exporter of gold Also has diamonds, platinum, coal

Very industrialized country, but many still live in poverty

South Africa’s People

79% Black African; 9% white 11 official languages

Afrikaans, English, Zulu… Religion—2/3 Christians, other are traditional

African religions AIDS epidemic—one of the hardest hit

countries in the world 21% of adults are infected with HIV/AIDS