The Republic of South Africa is a large republic in Southern Africa. It is located at the southern tip of the continent, and borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. Its economy is the largest and most well developed of the entire African continent, with modern infrastructure common in nearly all of the country. South Africa has the largest population of people of European descent in Africa, the largest Indian population outside of Asia, as well as the largest Coloured community in Africa, making it one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. Racial and ethnic strife between the white minority and the black majority have played a large part in the country's history and politics. The National Party began introducing the policy of apartheid after winning the general election of 1948; however, it was the same party under the leadership of F.W. de Klerk who started to dismantle it in 1990. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état, and regular free and fair elections are held since 1994, making it a regional power and among the most stable democracies in Africa.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1789: Fletcher Christian led a mutiny aboard HMAV Bounty against Commander William Bligh. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutiny_on_the_Bounty)

1952: Occupied Japan: Japan was once again an independent state, when the Treaty of San Francisco entered into force. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupied_Japan)

1969: Charles de Gaulle, the first President of the French Fifth Republic, resigned. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle)

1996: A spree shooter in the Port Arthur Massacre killed 35 people, and seriously injuried 37 in Tasmania, Australia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_Massacre)

2001: Dennis Tito became the world's first fee-paying space tourist, riding the Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft to the International Space Station. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"It is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done." -- Terry Pratchett (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett)