Factbook
Histoire de Afrique du Sud — Chronologie
Dates clés de l'histoire de Afrique du Sud, d'après le Factbook Magna et l'Encyclopédie universelle.
1652Dutch 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.
1806After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many settlers of Dutch descent -- known then as "Boers," or farmers, but later called Afrikaners -- trekked north to found their own republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State.
1867The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred mass immigration, predominantly from Europe.
1879The Zulu kingdom's territory was incorporated into the British Empire after the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, and the Afrikaner republics were incorporated after their defeat in the Second South African War (1899-1902).
1910Beginning in 1910, the British and the Afrikaners ruled together under the Union of South Africa, which left the British Commonwealth to become a fully self-governing republic in 1961 after a Whites-only referendum.
1910Independence: 31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State); 22 August 1934 (Status of the Union Act); 31 May 1961 (republic declared); 27 April 1994 (majority rule).
1948In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid -– billed as "separate development" of the races -- which favored the White minority and suppressed the Black majority and other non-White groups.
1994The first multi-racial elections in 1994 ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government.
2015Languages: isiZulu or Zulu (official) 25.3%, isiXhosa or Xhosa (official) 14.8%, Afrikaans (official) 12.2%, Sepedi or Pedi (official) 10.1%, Setswana or Tswana (official) 9.1%, English (official) 8.1%, Sesotho or Sotho (official) 7.9%, Xitsonga or Tsonga (official) 3.6%, siSwati or Swati ( Religions: Christian 86%, ancestral, tribal, animist, or other traditional African religions 5.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other 1.5%, nothing in particular 5.2% (2015 est.) Urban population: 68.8% of total population (2023).
2022President Cyril RAMAPHOSA, who was reelected as the ANC leader in 2022, has made some progress in reigning in corruption.
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 87.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); nuclear: 3.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 2.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 5.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 0.7% of total install Energy use: 86.197 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair Agriculture: sugarcane, maize, milk, soybeans, potatoes, wheat, grapes, chicken, oranges, apples (2023) Electricity access: 86.5% (2022 est.).
2024Major urban areas: 10.316 million Johannesburg (includes Ekurhuleni), 4.890 million Cape Town (legislative capital), 3.228 million Durban, 2.818 million PRETORIA (administrative capital), 1.296 million Port Elizabeth, 934,000 West Rand (20 upper-middle-income, largest southern African economy; Government of National Unity facing slow growth, fiscal gaps, and structural challenges; high income inequality, unemployment, and poverty; reforms to address electricity generation, transport, and logistics; leading producer and exporter of critical minerals Inflation: 4.4% (2024 est.).
2024Military spending: 0.7% of GDP (2024 est.).
2025Population: 61.1 million (2025 estimate).
