INTRODUCTION

Hello!!We are Carla, Lucia, Noah, Alex, and Christian. We study ESO 1 at San José school in Lugo . We´ve made this blog to learn more about other countries. We hope you´ll enjoy it!

POLITICAL SYSTEM

South Africa has a vibrant multiparty political system, with 13 parties represented in the National Assembly of Parliament.
The African National Congress (ANC) is the majority party, with 264 of the 400 National Assembly seats. The party controls eight of the country's nine provinces, with the exception of the Western Cape, where the Democratic Alliance won the majority in the 2009 elections. The ANC also controls five of the six metropolitan municipalities. Nonetheless, South Africa's opposition parties remain robust and vocal.
South Africa's Parliament is made up of two houses: the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The National Assembly is the more influential, passing legislation and overseeing executive performance. Its members are elected for a term of five years.
All South African citizens over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, if they register to do so. So far, South Africa has had fully inclusive democratic elections in 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009. Before 1994, only white South Africans were allowed to vote for the national government.

President of South Africa

CURRENCY

FAUNA AND FLORA

South Africa's unique flora and fauna attract visitors from all over the world. Find out what to see and where to see it. Whether you plan a safari to see the "big five" in Kruger National Park, or a trip to the St Lucia wetlands to enjoy hundreds of species of birds, there are few places on earth that rival South Africa's rich bio-diversity. You can swim with sharks, watch whales from the shore and play with penguins off the Western Cape coast, the variety is endless.

MUSIC

The story of South African music is one of dialogue with imported forms, and varying degrees of hybridisation over the years.
From the earliest colonial days until the present time, South African music has created itself out of the mingling of local ideas and forms with those imported from outside the country, giving it all a special twist that carries with it the unmistakeable flavour of the country.

GEOGRAPHY

South Africa occupies the southern tip of Africa, its long coastline stretching more than 2 500km from the desert border with Namibia on the Atlantic coast, southwards around the tip of Africa, then north to the border with subtropical Mozambique on the Indian Ocean.
The low-lying coastal zone is narrow for much of that distance, soon giving way to a mountainous escarpment that separates it from the high inland plateau. In some places, notably the province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east, a greater distance separates the coast from the escarpment.

POPULATION

South Africa is a nation of diversity, with nearly 52-million people and a wide variety of cultures, languages and religious beliefs.
According to Census 2011, the country's population stands at 51.77-million, up from the census 2001 count of 44.8-million.
Africans are in the majority, making up 79.2% of the population; coloured and white people each make up 8.9% of the total; and the Indian/Asian population 2.5%. "Other" population group makes up 0.5% of the total.

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

As a multicultural country, South Africa has a very diverse society, with many customs inherited by the European Colonists and by the original tribes and natives that their descendants still honor. There are many similarities with occidentals manners, because of their Engfor lish colonization, example, the classical handshake for men greeting men or women greeting women, more affective gestures, like hugs and kisses, are just to family or close friends.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

NELSON MANDELA

 (Umtata, Transkei, 1918 - Johannesburg, 2013) South African politician who led movements against apartheid and who, after a long struggle and 27 years in prison, the first Government which put an end to the racist regime presided over in 1994.Renouncing his hereditary right to be head of a tribe xosa, Nelson Mandela became a lawyer in 1942. In 1944, he joined in the African National Congress (ANC), a movement of struggle against the oppression of South African blacks. Mandela was one of the leaders of the League of the youth of the Congress, that would constitute the dominant group of the ANC; its ideology was an African socialism: nationalist, antiracist and anti-imperialist.

DESMOND TUTU

 (Klerksdorp, current South Africa, 1931) Ecclesiastical and South African politician whose work in defence of human rights was awarded in 1984 with the Nobel Peace Prize. Son of a school teacher, wanted to study medicine, but financial difficulties prevented from it.In 1961 he was ordained priest Anglican and, during the following years, he was Professor of theology in Johannesburg. At the end of the 1960s he moved to London, where he studied at King's College, and between 1971 and 1975, worked for the World Council of churches.

FOOD

Potjiekos

  

It is trditionally cooked in around.

ANTHEM

SOUTH AFRICAN ANTHEM

LANDMARKS

CAPE POINT

Cape Point is situated at the farthest tip of Africa. Experience dramatic coastal views with deserted beaches and steep cliffs that drop into the ocean. You'll find hectares of rich flora and fauna, buck, baboon, Cape mountain zebra and 250 bird species. It falls within the Table Mountain National Park, which is a world heritage site. Cape Point is notorious for its violent storms and centuries of shipwrecks. In 1488, Bartholomew Dias, the famous explorer, became the first person known to sail around the Cape. He aptly named it Cape of Storms. The reserve is home to the most powerful lighthouse in South Africa and the popular Two Oceans Restaurant.

HARBOUR VILLAGE 

 Harbour village named after seashells that were baked in kilns near the shore to produce lime (kalk). Kalk Bay Village is the only place in the country where the local residents successfully resisted The Group Areas Act of the 1960s. Explore the cobbled streets filled with clothing shops, antique and bookstores, galleries, a theatre, restaurants and coffee shops. See the fishing boats return to the harbour at noon with the catch of the day.

SYMBOL

SYMBOL   

South Africa's coat of arms, or state emblem, is the highest visual symbol of the state. Its central image is a secretary bird with uplifted wings, a sun rising above it. Below the bird is the protea, an indigenous South African flower, representing the aesthetic harmony of all cultures and the country flowering as a nation.

FLAG

FLAG 

The national flag was designed by a former South African State Herald, Mr Fred Brownell, and was first used on 27 April 1994. The design and colours are a synopsis of principal elements of the country's flag history. Individual colours, or colour combinations represent different meanings for different people and therefore no universal symbolism should be attached to any of the colours.

The central design of the flag, beginning at the flagpost in a 'V' form and flowing into a single horizontal band to the outer edge of the fly, can be interpreted as the convergence of diverse elements within South African society, taking the road ahead in unity. The theme of convergence and unity ties in with the motto Unity is Strength of the previous South African Coat of Arms.

FESTIVITIES

15/06  Father´s day

16/07  Our Lady of Carmen

26/08  World day of solidarity

08/09  World literacy day

16/10  World food day

20/11  universal children´s day

08/12  Inmaculate Conception

06/01  Epiphany

14/02  Valentine

21/03  World Day against discrimination

22/04 World earth day

08/05  International Red Cross day

CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHY

Another important aspect of Geography of South Africa is the variable climatic condition of the country. The Karoo plateau and the Kalahari Desert temperature are exceptionally dry and very hot in the summers and chilling in winters. The climate on the eastern part of the country is tropical whereas the south western part has a Mediterranean climate. The most notable feature of this region is the wind that blows throughout the year. 

Geographical and climatic diversity of the country has also affected the vegetation of the country. There are more than 20,000 species of plants surviving all over South Africa. 

RECENT NEWS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Mines minister warns on job cuts

The chances of job cuts at South African mines owned by the three largest platinum producers are rising as parties fail to resolve a pay dispute that’s crippled operations for 20 weeks, the mineral resources minister said.

SA film makes splash at Spanish fest

 An Eastern Cape-based documentary titled ‘Waterless Flower’ has reached the final of a Spanish film festival, production company Ripple Effect said on Tuesday.

“Recently we received an e-mail informing us that the film has been selected as a finalist - chosen among entries from across the world,” director Twiggy Matiwana said in a statement.

"I will win US Open", said Mickelson

Phil Mickelson not only believes he's going to win the US Open, he believes he's going to win more than one.

He just wouldn't say whether it would be this year.

Pinehurst No. 2 holds an emotional connection for Mickelson for a couple of reasons. It was the first of his record six runner-up finishes in the US Open, and his first child was born the day after Payne Stewart made a 15-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to beat him by one shot. What gets overlooked is that Mickelson tied for 33rd and was 12 shots behind when the US Open returned to Pinehurst No.

HISTORY

The Republic of South Africa (1961–present).

During the 1960s, the implementation of apartheid and the repression of internal opposition continued despite growing world criticism of South Africa's racially discriminatory policies and police violence. Thousands of Africans, coloureds, and Asians (ultimately numbering about 3.5 million by the 1980s) were removed from white areas into the land set aside for other racial groups. Some of these areas, called black homelands, were readied for independence, even though they lacked the physical cohesiveness--Bophuthatswana, for example, consisted of some nineteen non-contiguous pieces of land--to make political or economic independence a viable or believable concept. None of the four homelands declared independent received any form of world recognition. The ANC and the PAC, banned from operating within South Africa, turned to violence in their struggle against apartheid--the former organization adopting a policy of bombing strategic targets such as police stations and power plants, the latter engaging in a program of terror against African chiefs and headmen, who were seen as collaborators with the government.