The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The South African coast stretches 2,798 kilometres and borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, while the Kingdom of Lesotho is an independent enclave surrounded by South African territory.
In 1994, the South African government abolished the four former provinces of South Africa (Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal) and replaced them with nine fully integrated provinces. The provinces are Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape and the Western Cape. These nine provinces are further subdivided into 52 districts comprising of 6 metropolitan and 46 district municipalities.
South Africa has eleven official languages: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu. As a result there are eleven official names for South Africa, one in each of the official national languages.
South Africa is also a popular tourist destination, and a substantial amount of revenue comes from tourism. Among the main attractions are the diverse and picturesque culture, the game reserves and the highly regarded local wines.
