Geography

Situated at the southern tip of Africa, South Africa has a landmass of 1 233 404 km² edged on 3 sides by a nearly 3000km coastline washed by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic. It is bordered in the north by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and also wraps itself around two independent countries, the Lesotho and Swaziland.

Capital cities
South Africa has 3 capitals: Cape Town (Legislative), Pretoria (Administrative and Bloemfontein (Judicial).

Economy
A lesser-known fact on South Africa is that it has achieved steady economic growth in gross domestic product (GDP) since the late 90s. The country, regarded as an emerging market, has a well developed financial sector and active stock exchange. Financial policies have focused on building solid macroeconomic structures. The country’s central bank is the Reserve Bank.

Money
South Africa’s currency is the rand (R), which is divided into 100 cents. There is no black market. The coins are one, two, five, 10, 20 and 50 cents, and R1, R2 and R5. The notes are R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200. There have been forgeries of the R200 note, and some businesses are reluctant to accept them.
The best currencies to bring are US dollars, Euros or British pounds in a mixture of travellers cheques and cash, plus a Visa or MasterCard for withdrawing money from ATMs.
There are ATMs in all cities in South Africa, most of which give cash advances against cards belonging to the Cirrus network. 
Credit cards are widely accepted in South Africa, especially MasterCard and Visa. Nedbank is an official Visa agent, and Standard Bank is a MasterCard agent – both have branches across the country.

Population
The South African population of 47m people thereabouts is extremely diverse. Black groups constitute the largest portion of the population at just under 80%. Whites and Coloureds (mixed race) account for roughly 9% each. Asians, of which Indians are in the majority, constitute approximately 2.5%.

Official languages 
11 (English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu, Sepedi, Sotho, Tshivenda, Tswana, Swati and Xitsonga)

Greetings - Hello 
Sawubona (Zulu) 
Molo (Xhosa) 
Hallo (Afrikaans) 
Thobela (Northern Soto) 
Dumela (Tswana)

Climate & when to go
South Africa can be visited comfortably any time. However, depending on what you plan to do, it is worth paying attention to the seasons, which are the reverse of those in the northern hemisphere.

Winter (June to September) is cooler, drier and ideal for hiking and outdoor pursuits. Because vegetation is less dense and thirsty animals congregate around rivers and other permanent water sources, winter is also the best time for wildlife-watching. In the eastern highveld, nights are often crisp and clear, with occasional frosts, so come prepared with a jacket.

Telephone 
Country code 27; international access 09

Health and Safety
You just have to use your common sense and take necessary precautions when it comes to personal belongings.  Random crimes are the only thing you can just have to be careful for. However, try to keep things in perspective, and remember that despite the statistics and newspaper headlines, the majority of travellers visit the country without incident.

No matter where you are, you can minimize the risks by following basic safety precautions, remaining alert and exercising common sense.

Recommended vaccinations
The World Health Organization recommends all travellers be covered for diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and polio, as well as hepatitis B, regardless of their destination. The consequences of these diseases can be severe, and outbreaks do occur.

According to the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention, the following vaccinations are recommended for South Africa: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies and typhoid, and boosters for tetanus, diphtheria and measles.

Yellow fever is not a risk in the region, but the certificate is an entry requirement if you are travelling both from an infected region to some of South Africa’s neighbouring countries such as Mozambique.