Sunset at Knysna Lagoon, South Africa.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian oceans.To the north lie the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana andZimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; within it lies Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South African territory. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 53 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation.
South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in theconstitution's recognition of 11 official languages, which is among the highest number of any country in the world.