South Africa

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I have chosen South Africa as my country to write about.
I know a little about it already, but I haven´t heard of an writer from South Africa.
The article will contain a little about South Africa and also a little about a writer from here.



Content



-Facts about South Africa

-History

-Geography

-A writer from South Africa

-My thoughts and sources



1 About South Africa


-The country

South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of the
African continent.
It´s capitol city is Pretoria and Cape town is the inofficial capitol.
It´s neighbours are Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland.
South Africa has evoluted in a different way from the other
countries in Africa.
Not only because of the european ”take over”, but also for it´s porters.


-Inhabitants

South Africa has almost 47.5 milj. Inhabitants (2005), and it´s official
language (-s) are:
-English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Ndembele, Shoto (northern, southern)
Tsonga, Tswana, Venda.

The majority of the people are black but there are quite few white there to,
less then 80% of the people are black and the rest are white.


-Economy

The economy in South Africa is the largest and the best
developed on the continent, and I think it´s because
they have about 1 milj. Tourists a year.
The tourist are comming here because South Africa is mainly
speaking english and the tourists have much easier finding
hotels and food when they feel like they make them self clear.
The british travel agencys have South Africa on the Top-ten destination list
so people must like it there...
Rank is the name of the money

-Crime

Crime has been a major problem in South Africa. According
to a survey for the period 1998 - 2000 compiled by the United nations,
South Africa was ranked second for assult and murder.
It´s mostly crime against farming community that are noticed.


2 History


The written history of South Africa begins with the history
of European navigators passing South Africa on the east indies trade routes.
Subsequent to the first sight of the Cape in 1488 by the Portuguese Explorer Bartolomeu Dias a number of shipwrecks were found along the
Southern African coast. Along with the histories of the early navigators,
the histories of shipwreck survivors provide the earliest
written hitory of Southern Africa.

In the two centuries following 1488 a number of small fishing
settlements were made along the coast by portuges sailors,
but no written history of these settlements survives. In 1652a victualling
station was established at the Cape of good hope
by Jan van Rieebeck on behalf of the Dutch east indian company.
For most of the 17th and 18th centuries, the slowly expanding settlement
was a dutch possession. The Dutch settlers eventually met the southwesterly
expanding Xhosa people in the region of the fish river. A series of wars,
called cape frontier wars, ensued, mainly caused by conflicting land and livestock interests.


Great britain seized the The cape of good hope area in 1797 during
the fourth dutch angelo war. The dutch east indian company
declared bankruptcy, and the British annexed the Cape Colony in 1805.
The British continued the frontier wars against the AmaXhosa, pushing the
eastern frontier eastward through a line of forts established along the fish River
and consolidating it by encouraging british settlement Due to pressure of abolitionist
societies in Britain, the British parliament first stopped its global
slave trade in 1806, then abolished slavery in all its colonies in 1833.

The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886
encouraged economic growth and immigration, intensifying
the subjugation of the natives. The boers successfully resisted British encroachments
during the first boer war (1880–1881) using tactics much better suited to local conditions.
For example, the Boers wore khaki clothing, which was the same colour as the earth, whereas the British wore bright red uniforms, making them easy targets for Boer sharpshooters.
The British returned in greater numbers without their red jackets in the
second boa war (1899–1902), which was largely opposed by the liberal party in the british parliament. The Boers'''' attempt to ally themselves with
German south west africans provided the British with yet another excuse to take control of the Boer Republics.
31 of may 1910 south Africa became an own county and ”The republic of South Africa” was born.

3 Geography


As I wrote before South Africa is on the tip of the african
continent, which makes it very attractive
To own due the water and the lovely beaches.
It´s coastline stretches more than 2500 kilometres, between the
Atlantic ocean and the Indian ocean.
It´s a very various climate here.
The khalahari desert can be extremly hot and on the night the temprature can go below -20 degrees celcius.
Then we have the Sub tropical climate wich is very rainy and wet.

The landscape is very different in the country. In the south there is mountain, and in the more central and norther part it´s almost all desert.

South Africa is full of rare plants and flowers.
In many cases the plants are threathened spiecies. The invasion of the western people resulted in a catastrophy for the flowers and the plants. Many unknown spiecies were exterminated, so we willnever find out what we really had on our planet.
Sometimes when researchers do a trip to the forrests they find some spiecies but i tell you, there is not much left.

The beaches are endless and the tourism is growing, especially for the british people.
They have placed they´re own people there so when a british family comes there, they feel like home.
The water is shiny blue and due the flush between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, no dirt and such are abel to stay.



4 A writer from South Africa

South Africa is not known for so many writers, atleast i haven´t heard of any. =P
But I found a interresting one anyway (after hard work)
My first thought were Nelson Mandela, but i don´t know, he feels so lame, I wanted a fresh one, one that didn´t get so much attention.

Marlene van Niekerk

Marlene was born in 10 of November 1954 on a little farm called Tygerhoek, near Caledon.

She went to school in Riviersonderende and later to University of Stellenboch. She moved to Germany in 1979 to direct plays but after a year she moved back to Neatherlands to studie. At the University she became a Teacher in the Dutch language and Philosophy. At here time on the University of Stellenboch she had already written three (3) plays for the lay theathre.

Back in South africa she worked at the University of zululand, an leactured Dutch and Philosopy.
She is now Professor at the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, Stellenbosch University

Her highlight spot came when she wrote about a poor family in Johannesburg.
The novel is named Triomf .
It´s about a poor family in Johannesburg and their struggle against the apartheid society.
She didn´t write more...