South+Africa





What borders South Africa? Well it is a peninsula so it is surrounded by water from three sides. On the south it’s surrounded by the Indian Ocean plus on the east. On the north side it is surrounded by: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. Lesotho and Mozambique border it from the north east. The continent it is found in is Africa. It is called South Africa because it is found in the south of Africa. South Africa is found bellow the equator so the seasons are opposite of most countries like: Canada, United States ext… in the west of south Africa it is usually cooler than the east because of more cold water in that area. It also tends to be drier than the rest (except for Cape). The east side of south is the opposite. It’s because of the Agulhas (which means mountains stuck together) current. The current flows south from the Indian Ocean, making the land warm. Winds from the ocean carry rain in the land, especially in the summer. ** The population in South Africa is 41 million people. **
 * __ Physical Features: __**
 * I would say the capital of South Africa is Cape Town because it is one of the oldest cities in South Africa but south Africa is divided into nine provinces and each province has a capital. Some of the provinces are: Free State, North West, Northern Province, Northern Cape, ext…
 * Fauna and Flora: **
 * In South Africa you see a lot of trees that grow in no other country. After every spring rainfall there is a huge explosion of flowers covering the mountains and plains of Namaqualand. There are wild daises, gladiolas, mums, irises, freesias, and violets. Most of these flowers only bloom in very sunny places. There is also a very none tree in Africa called the baobab tree. They call it the upside down tree for its unusual shape. The tree branches can be as long as routs and as wide as a car. This shape helps the tree survive the tree grows in very dry places mostly in northern part of the country. It will store a little rain and have a lot of branches. And in the spring the tree grow in the spring and in the fall it grows little harry fruit shaped like an egg. **
 * South Africa is the home of one of the most amazing animals in the world. There are 80 species of mammals, 39 are found in South Africa including the per pours of the southern light whales. In this country you can see one of most countries filled with animals. You can find the world’s largest animals (the African elephant) and the world’s smallest (the pygmy shrew). **
 * Elephants are one of the most known animals in South Africa. There are two types of elephants: the Indian, and the African. The African elephants live in South Africa. They live in grass lands and forests. They are larger than the Indian elephants and have bigger ears. **
 * Lions are found in South Africa too. They live in prides. Each pride has to have lions, lionesses, and cubs. Lionesses are the ones who do most of the hunting. They usually go in small groups or on their own. The animals they look for are zebras, antelopes, or antelopes. Slowly and quietly they sneak behind animals and then attack. **
 * Impalas are animals that look like dear are one of the most common animals to see in South Africa. They are known for jumping high as 9 meters (30 feet) a time. This helps them get away from predators. **
 * Two of the most dangerous are the black mamba and the python. Pythons slither in grasses slowly and then attack their prey without a warning. It will crunch it to death and then swallow it in one big gulp! The black mamba is the fastest known snake. It’s twice as long as the average man. It kills its pray by biting it. Its venom can kill a human. **
 * There are over 900 species of birds that live in South Africa. Hawks, eagles, vulture’s ext. fly over the land

** Customs: **

Country Life: Black people used to live in villages with related people. There were about 50 people in a village but it can go up to a 1000. They would grow small crops such as maize and vegetables and sell them for cash. The village would usually form a market to sell poetry and other types of house equipment. Life wasn’t easy in the village. Men had to take care of the livestock, plowe fields, and build houses. Women had to harvest the food, do house chores, and cook. Young children would carry water and take care of the animals. Older girls take care of their younger brothers and sisters and learn how to cook. Older boys learn about the village business and learn about politics from the men.



Food!


 * There are lots of flavorful foods in South Africa that you would like to try. If it was a spicy main course or a lovely sweet dessert it’s something you would want to taste. **
 * Chicken curry was brought to South Africa by the Indians. It is accepted as a South African dish there. If you don’t know what it is its boiled rice with turmeric to make the rice look yellow, chicken, with sauce and you can top it off with anything you like, like nuts, bananas, raisins ext… **
 * Geelerys is a dish that South Africans has been eating for centuries. It is boiled rice dyed yellow with a spice called turmeric. These are the ingredients: **


 * 500 ml (2 cups) of boiling water **
 * 250 ml (1 cup) of rice **
 * 1 stick of cinnamon **
 * 2.5 ml (half a tsp) of turmeric **
 * 5 ml (1 tsp) salt **
 * 15 ml (1tblsp) butter **
 * 125(1 cup) of raisins **


 * Place the ingredients except for the raisins in the boiling water. Cook on low heat for twenty minutes. Add raisins and turn off the heat. Leave the pot covered for ten minutes until the raisins get plump. Serve hot and enjoy! **


 * Celebrations **

**On January in the middle of South Africa. On January 1, New Years Day people fill up the streets for the celebration of the year. It is not only New Year’s Day they celebrate they also celebrate the day after in Cape. It’s called //Tweedencewejaar//, in other words the second day of New Years. People gather on the streets to see the parades striking dancing and singing and to see the gorgeous costumes. The parade winds to the stadium so the judges can present the winner with prizes.**
 * Easter is one of the most important holidays in Christianity. It’s when the Christians believed that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The south Africans Christians celebration causes huge traffic jams in Moria in the northern province. Every year over a million gatherers make way for Moria Easter. For four days they do not eat. The pilgrim’s spend their time dancing, singing, and praying. **

Language:

South Africa has eleven official languages: English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, isiNdebele, Sepedi, Sesotho, siSwati, Xitsonga, Setswana, and Tshivenda. South Africans speak three or more languages. Sometimes they combine languages like Kombuis Afrikaans, or “Kitchen Afrikaans” which is a mixture of English and Afrikaans. Some languages like isiZulu and isiXhosa have pop or click noises. Its noises they make with their tongue to produce a sound instead of a letter. Try making these noises with your tongue:

Letter c : open your mouths slightly, put the tip of your tongue against your top front teeth and pull your tongue backwards.

Letter q : open your mouth; press your tongue hard against your mouth, than pull forward.

Letter x : open your mouth slightly, put your tongue against your back of your top teeth, and then pull your tongue against your molar on one side


 * **English** ||
 * Afrikaans** || **isiXhosa** || **isiZulu** || **isiNdebele,** || **Sepedi** ||
 * **Hello** || **Hallo** || **molo** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **How are you?** || ** Hoe gaan dit? ** || **unjani ** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **Good morning.** || **Goeiemore** || **molo ** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **I am fine** || ** Dit gaan goed ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt;">ndiphilie ** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**Good night** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**Goeienag** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt;">rohananai ** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**Good bye** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">** Tot siens ** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt;">Hamaba kakuhle ** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**Yes** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">** ja ** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt;">**ewe** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**No** || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**nee** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt;">xha ** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**Please** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">** aseebelife ** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">ndicela ** ||  ||   ||   ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">**Thank you** || <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 219.7%;">** dankie ** || <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 130%;">ndiyabonga ** ||  ||   ||   ||

<span style="font-family: 'Bernard MT Condensed','serif'; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">CUSTUMES & EVERY DAY WEAR South Africa is a modern country nowa days but has people around the world coming with different backgrounds. There are a variety of people who wear different things as their every day wear. For example in Johannesburg people wear business suits. In small towns or villages they wear or villages they wear tee-shirts with shorts, skirts, or jeans. Some wear theses clothes every day or on special occasions. Each group in South Africa has a special way of dressing in traditional style. The outfits are usually elaborate and full of colors. They have intricate hairstyles with colorful beads, heavy jewelry adorn the women. Men might wear animal skins or colorful cloaks. **Some women wear up to 35 kilograms (55 pounds)** **of jewelry. They never take of the stacks of copper rings around their necks and ankles.** Art The San and Khoikhoi lived in South Africa from thousands of years ago. They hunted and gathered and they moved when there was no more to eat. They used caves as shelter was they lived and what they used to pant their beautiful art work on. Till now you can still find their art work in the country especially in Cape Town Mountains and in Johannesburg. Some of their pictures are of people hunting, animals or battles. They are about 20,000 years old. South African dolls are always very detailed and elaborate. The handmade wedding dolls of the Venda people are one example. These dolls are given to brides as a wedding gift. They can very small and can be as tall as you. They have simple faces and long shaped cone bodies. They are decorated with fabric, metal rings and they are all unique. The Zuhuls are known for their beautiful bead work. They use it for dolls and jewelry and they use it on their clothes. Sometimes women’s string beads for ankle bracelets. They send it to their husbands or boyfriends if they are gone for a long trip. Each color of a bead has a different meaning for example red means love yellow means home and black means loneliness. Music South African jazz is famous worldwide. It started with a style called //Marabi//. The musician made up the music while they were playing. They played with the instruments that were available like the piano t a can filed with stone. Over the years the guitars, bongos, and drums joined in which came into their sound. New music influences came from countries like the United States. The brought the blues and swing. These styles all added together to make South African jazz.