South Africa is the southernmost country on the continent of Africa, which is the world’s second largest continent. There are 53 separate countries in Africa, including the island of Madagascar, which makes Africa the continent with the highest number of countries. The Republic of South Africa covers the southernmost part of the African continent between the latitudes 22° and 35° south and longitudes 17° and 33° east. Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe form the northern boundaries and Mozambique and Swaziland the northeastern border. The Kingdom of Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa. Just off the African continent, South Africa's area also includes Prince Edward Islands. Other than its 2,798 kilometers of coastline, South Africa also has 4,750 kilometers of land boundaries. Despite popular belief, South Africa is three times the size of Texas, five time that of Great Britain, covering an area of 1 221 040 sq km. Yet, it occupies but four per cent (4%) of the landmass of Africa. 

The population of South Africa is approximately 40 million, which is almost equal to two-thirds of Britain’s 59.3 million. One half of the South African population lives in cities of more than 50,000 inhabitants, mainly in major urban areas. The rest of the country is rather sparsely populated.

South Africa is a big wallop of a country, extending nearly 2000km from the Limpopo River in the north to Cape Agulhas in the south and nearly 1500km from Port Nolloth in the west to Durban in the east. The country can be divided into three major parts: the vast interior plateau (the highveld), the Great Escarpment at its edge (the Kalahari Basin), and a narrow coastal plain (the lowveld).


DISTANCES ON IMPORTANT ROUTES:

Johannesburg-Kruger Park: 462 km
Johannesburg-Kruger Park-Swaziland-Durban: 1,250 km
Johannesburg-Durban: 598 km
Durban-Port Elizabeth: 927 km
Port Elizabeth - Cape Town: 756 km
Cape Town - Upington: 1,084 km
Cape Town- Windhoek: 1,469 km
Cape Town - Johannesburg: 1,402 km

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