Southern Africa · ZAF

South Africa

The story · 12 chapters

How it was drawn

San and Khoikhoi lands, Bantu kingdoms, a Dutch then British Cape, Zulu and Boer wars, union in 1910, apartheid, and a democracy since 1994.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states South Africa fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Dutch East India Company1659 to 1677
As the Company's Cape colony took their grazing land, the Khoikhoi fought two wars against it, in 1659 and 1660 and from 1673 to 1677. They lost, and over the next century land loss and smallpox broke their independent societies.
Xhosa chiefdoms1779 to 1879
Nine frontier wars between 1779 and 1879 pitted Xhosa chiefdoms against Boer and then British settlers on the Eastern Cape frontier. The Xhosa lost land step by step, and after the cattle killing of 1856 and 1857 their resistance was broken.
Batavian Republic1795 to 1806
Britain took the Cape from the Dutch in 1795 after the Battle of Muizenberg, handed it back in 1803, and seized it again from the Batavian Republic at Blaauwberg in January 1806. The colony was formally ceded to Britain in 1814.
Zulu kingdom1838 to 1879
Voortrekkers defeated Dingane's army at Blood River in 1838. Four decades later Britain invaded: the Zulu won a famous victory at Isandlwana in January 1879 but lost at Ulundi that July, and their kingdom was broken up and later annexed.
Basotho kingdom of Moshoeshoe1858 to 1868
The Orange Free State fought Moshoeshoe's Basotho over the fertile land west of the Caledon river in 1858 and again in the 1860s. To avoid defeat, Moshoeshoe asked for British protection, and Basutoland became British in 1868, minus its western lands.
British Empire1880 to 1902
Britain fought the Boer republics twice. The Transvaal won the first war at Majuba in 1881. The second, from 1899 to 1902, killed about 22,000 British soldiers and many more civilians, and ended with both republics annexed.
Angola and Cuba1975 to 1988
South Africa invaded Angola in 1975 and fought there for years against Angolan and Cuban forces while backing UNITA rebels. After the battles around Cuito Cuanavale in 1987 and 1988, the New York Accords of December 1988 traded Cuban withdrawal for Namibian independence.
Namibia1990 to 1994
Walvis Bay, Namibia's only deep water port, had been ruled from the Cape since colonial times. Pretoria kept it when Namibia became independent in 1990, then handed it over on 1 March 1994.
Lesotho1998 to 1999
In September 1998 South African troops, later joined by Botswana's, entered Lesotho under a SADC mandate after disputed elections and an army mutiny. Fighting and looting in Maseru left dozens dead before the troops withdrew in 1999.

Today

South Africa now

Some of the earliest human remains in the fossil record were found in South Africa. D. 500, Bantu-speaking groups began settling into what is now northeastern South Africa, displacing Khoisan-speaking groups to the southwest. Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of present-day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town.

Capital: Pretoria
Government: parliamentary republic
Head of government: Cyril Ramaphosa
Languages: Southern Ndebele, Tsonga, Sesotho
Area: 1,219,602 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population63.2 million2023 · 13.0 million in 1950
Life expectancy66.1 years2023 · 43.1 years in 1950
GDP per person$11,4152022 · $4,041 in 1950
Living in cities64%2025 · 42% in 1950
Literacy91%2024 · 43% in 1950
Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Electoral autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending0.7% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

United Kingdom
France
United States
Zimbabwe
Brazil

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states South Africa fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Dutch East India Company1659 to 1677

As the Company's Cape colony took their grazing land, the Khoikhoi fought two wars against it, in 1659 and 1660 and from 1673 to 1677. They lost, and over the next century land loss and smallpox broke their independent societies.

Xhosa chiefdoms1779 to 1879

Nine frontier wars between 1779 and 1879 pitted Xhosa chiefdoms against Boer and then British settlers on the Eastern Cape frontier. The Xhosa lost land step by step, and after the cattle killing of 1856 and 1857 their resistance was broken.

Batavian Republic1795 to 1806

Britain took the Cape from the Dutch in 1795 after the Battle of Muizenberg, handed it back in 1803, and seized it again from the Batavian Republic at Blaauwberg in January 1806. The colony was formally ceded to Britain in 1814.

Zulu kingdom1838 to 1879

Voortrekkers defeated Dingane's army at Blood River in 1838. Four decades later Britain invaded: the Zulu won a famous victory at Isandlwana in January 1879 but lost at Ulundi that July, and their kingdom was broken up and later annexed.

Basotho kingdom of Moshoeshoe1858 to 1868

The Orange Free State fought Moshoeshoe's Basotho over the fertile land west of the Caledon river in 1858 and again in the 1860s. To avoid defeat, Moshoeshoe asked for British protection, and Basutoland became British in 1868, minus its western lands.

British Empire1880 to 1902

Britain fought the Boer republics twice. The Transvaal won the first war at Majuba in 1881. The second, from 1899 to 1902, killed about 22,000 British soldiers and many more civilians, and ended with both republics annexed.

Angola and Cuba1975 to 1988

South Africa invaded Angola in 1975 and fought there for years against Angolan and Cuban forces while backing UNITA rebels. After the battles around Cuito Cuanavale in 1987 and 1988, the New York Accords of December 1988 traded Cuban withdrawal for Namibian independence.

Namibia1990 to 1994

Walvis Bay, Namibia's only deep water port, had been ruled from the Cape since colonial times. Pretoria kept it when Namibia became independent in 1990, then handed it over on 1 March 1994.

Lesotho1998 to 1999

In September 1998 South African troops, later joined by Botswana's, entered Lesotho under a SADC mandate after disputed elections and an army mutiny. Fighting and looting in Maseru left dozens dead before the troops withdrew in 1999.

South Africa now

Capital

Pretoria

Government

parliamentary republic

Head of government

Cyril Ramaphosa

Languages

Southern Ndebele, Tsonga, Sesotho

Area

1,219,602 km²

Then and now

Population63.2 million2023 · 13.0 million in 1950

Life expectancy66.1 years2023 · 43.1 years in 1950

GDP per person$11,4152022 · $4,041 in 1950

Living in cities64%2025 · 42% in 1950

Literacy91%2024 · 43% in 1950

Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Electoral autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending0.7% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025