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
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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)
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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)