How well do you know South Africa?
Do you know how big the country is?
These are some of the skills that any patriotic citizen should have.
Image: facebook.com, @Mbuso Bongumusa XabaSource: UGC
The below details about the regions will equip you with more skills and knowledge about the country.
How many provinces are there in South Africa?
How well can you describe them?
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You do not need to be a geographer to answer these questions.
Hence, it is necessary to be conversant about them.
How about finding out the facts about the regions?
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Provinces of South Africa
Before 1994, South Africa was subdivided into four provinces.
The four territories were: Orange Free State, Transvaal, Cape, and Natal.
Orange Free State and Transvaal were popularly known as Boer republics while Cape and Natal were British colonies.
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These four had been united in 1910 to form the four states in the country.
The country was subdivided again to nine regions.
Differences in size and population characterise the different regions in the country.
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Gauteng, for instance, is the smallest and yet most crowded region as compared to the Northern Cape.
Northern Cape is the biggest province in South Africa by size.
It covers an area of 372,889 square kilometres which translates to 30.5% of the total South Africa area.
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Second on the list is Eastern Cape with an area of 169,966 square kilometres, translating to 13.8%.
It is followed by Free State which has an area of 129,825 square kilometres, accounting for 10.6%.
The sixth-largest province is North West whose area is 104,882 square kilometres, which translates to 8.6%.
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Mpumalanga is eighth with an area of 79,495 square kilometres, which is equivalent to 6.3%.
These capital cities are also regarded to be the country’s major cities.
These two are KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape.
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The major town in Eastern Cape is Port Elizabeth while the major town in KwaZulu-Natal is Durban.
Out of the thirty-five, eleven languages make up the country’s official languages.
Out of the eleven languages, English is the official language that is used in state and parliamentary discussions.
It is the most commonly-used language in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Afrikaans is the most common language that is spoken in Western Cape and Northern Cape.
Xhosa is the most commonly spoken language in Eastern Cape.
Sesotho is the most common language in Free State.
In Limpopo province, the most commonly spoken language is Sesotho sa Leboa.
Siswati is the most commonly spoken language in Mpumalanga.
In North West province, the language that is commonly used is Setswana.
One is not tied to being conversant with isiZulu for them to communicate.
The other languages that are common in the region are English, Afrikaans, and Sesotho sa Leboa.
She graduated from Meru University of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering in 2019.
In 2023, Priscillah finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques.
She has been writing articles on Briefly.co.za since 2019.
Email: pshmueni@gmail.com
