South Africa is a country in Africa, in Southern Africa, with about 64.7 million people (2025) and an area of 1,219,090 square kilometres. It names 3 capitals, Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein, and it shares land borders with 6 countries.
By Team Geography·Last reviewed
Flag of South AfricaSouth Africa in solid, land neighbours outlined, capital marked.
Key facts about South Africa
Capitals
Pretoria, Cape Town and BloemfonteinThree capitals: Pretoria is the executive seat, Cape Town the legislative seat, and Bloemfontein the judicial seat.
The app teaches each country through short hand written lenses: PLACE for physical geography, STORY for history and identity, NOW for the news, and THREAD for the ties between countries. Here is one of South Africa's 17, in full.
PLACELens 1 of 17
A floral kingdom the size of a province
Botanists divide the world's plants into six floral kingdoms. Five of them span continents; the sixth is a strip of the Western Cape. Around 9,000 species grow in its fynbos shrubland, roughly 70 percent of them found nowhere else, and Table Mountain alone carries more kinds of plant than Britain. The shrubland must burn every ten to twenty years, since many seeds open only after heat and smoke. Its quieter threat is thirst: imported pines drink the runoff Cape Town needs.
More on fynbos
The name is Afrikaans for fine bush, a reference to the narrow leaves that limit water loss. Proteas, heaths and reed-like restios dominate. The soils are among the poorest on earth, which pushes plants toward chemical defenses and highly specific pollinators rather than fast growth, and helps explain why so many species occupy such small ranges. Rooibos is one of them.
16 more lenses on South Africa in the app
STORY South Africa lives with one of history's most visible afterlives
THREAD The country is both African anchor and global outlier
PLACE South Africa sits where two oceans collide
NOW South Africa's Government of National Unity is testing coalition politics in real time
STORY Eleven official languages in one country
THREAD South Africa speaks for the continent in rooms most African states cannot enter
PLACE Three capitals and a football heartland
STORY The first World Cup on African soil
NOW Bafana Bafana's first finals since 2010
THREAD Madiba, sport and the rainbow nation
PLACE Soweto and the derby it gave Africa
STORY The people's game in the townships
NOW A league that keeps talent home
THREAD The shared game of southern Africa
NOW More South Africans receive grants than pay income tax
PLACE The world's richest gold basin built a city
Titles only. The app brings each lens back on a spaced repetition schedule set by how well you knew it: New, Hazy or Clear.
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Common questions
What is the capital of South Africa?
South Africa names 3 capitals: Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein. Three capitals: Pretoria is the executive seat, Cape Town the legislative seat, and Bloemfontein the judicial seat. Pretoria lies at about 25.7 degrees south and 28.2 degrees east. South Africa is in Africa, in the region often called Southern Africa.
What is the population of South Africa?
About 64.7 million people live in South Africa, according to the World Bank figures for 2025. That makes it the 24th most populous of the 195 countries. With an area of 1,219,090 square kilometres, that is about 53 people per square kilometre.
What countries border South Africa?
South Africa shares land borders with 6 countries: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The map on this page outlines each of them around South Africa. The count includes only borders on land, not neighbours across a sea or a lake.
How big is South Africa?
South Africa covers 1,219,090 square kilometres, or about 470,693 square miles. That makes it the 24th largest of the 195 countries. The figure is total surface area, which includes inland water such as lakes and rivers. Its population of about 64.7 million gives a density of 53 people per square kilometre.
South Africa is a country in Africa, in Southern Africa, with about 64.7 million people (2025) and an area of 1,219,090 square kilometres. It names 3 capitals, Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein, and it shares land borders with 6 countries.
Capitals
Pretoria, Cape Town and BloemfonteinThree capitals: Pretoria is the executive seat, Cape Town the legislative seat, and Bloemfontein the judicial seat.
Continent
Africa
Region
Southern Africa
Population
64,747,319 2025, World Bank. 24th of 195.
Area
1,219,090 km² (470,693 sq mi) World Bank, surface area. 24th largest of 195.
Botanists divide the world's plants into six floral kingdoms. Five of them span continents; the sixth is a strip of the Western Cape. Around 9,000 species grow in its fynbos shrubland, roughly 70 percent of them found nowhere else, and Table Mountain alone carries more kinds of plant than Britain. The shrubland must burn every ten to twenty years, since many seeds open only after heat and smoke. Its quieter threat is thirst: imported pines drink the runoff Cape Town needs.
Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/south-africa/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
Geography · Country report
South Africa
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Colour South Africa on the map, then fill in what you find.
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Three things I learned
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Keep going on your iPhone. Scan for Geography: the world, one country at a time, about five minutes a day. No quizzes and no streaks. playgeography.app/countries/south-africa/ · Map data: Natural Earth. Figures: World Bank and national sources, as listed on the page.
BotswanaGaborone
EswatiniMbabane and Lobamba
LesothoMaseru
MozambiqueMaputo
NamibiaWindhoek
ZimbabweHarare