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South Africa

The 'rainbow nation' of South Africa - a nation transformed since the dark era of apartheid - is unique in Africa in terms of its diversity, economic influence, and place in the global community (as reflected in the staging of the 2010 World Cup).

Yet the country is still beset by a range of problems, many typically African, while others uniquely South African:

  • High unemployment.

  • Townships still largely home to poor black South Africans, where associated tensions frequently surface in violence.

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South Africa 1
School's out! Mpumalanga province

  • Disputes over land distribution, with land ownership still largely the preserve of the white population.

  • AIDS (South Africa is second in the world in terms of the number of people suffering HIV/AIDS, with one in seven people affected).

Yet modern South Africa is defined above all by its emergence - through painful years of reconciliation - from a society where racism was reflected in law, and the part played in that transition by leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

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South Africa map

Area (size): 470,695 square miles (five times bigger than UK) Capital city: Pretoria

Population: 50 million; of whom 80% black African majority (including Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga and others);  10% Caucasian minority (Afrikaner of Dutch descent, and other European); Indian & Asian minorities.  Languages: English, Xhosa, Zulu, Afrikaans, Setswana, Sesotho & others.

Religion: Christianity, Islam, indigenous African beliefs.

Christians in South Africa

With freedom of religion in South Africa, the Christian church - traditionally strong and diverse - is strugging to maintain its place in a society where many other faiths are represented (some of which are growing significantly).

The concept of no faith at all is also seeping through what is in part, a modern, 'post Christian' society.

With Islam, Hinduism, traditional African religions and humanism all gaining a higher profile in society, pray that South African Christians will present a clear, biblically-based message, stand firm in the faith, and grow in strength and in number.