Introduction

South Africa lies at the southern end of the African continent, where the Atlantic and Indian oceans come together.  It has an area of about 1.2 million square kilometers.  Its neighbours to the north are Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is a small country that is completely surrounded by South Africa. 

For a long time in the past centuries South Africa was governed by Whites, although about 80 % of the population are Blacks. In the 1990s the election of the first Black president , Nelson Mandela opened a new chapter of South African history.