South Africa

Introduction

The first phase of sociological research of South Africa in the nineteenth century coincided with European colonial expansion and the emergence of the European nation states. Yet, those events did not produce a sociological focus on ethnicity.. To the extent that ethnic phenomena continued to play a substantial role in social relations, not least those involving conflict, this can be associated with the existence of pre-modern forms of society. Hence, the type of conflicts evident in the various European colonies could be seen as a social aberration, which would disappear with modernization.

South Africa is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Africa and has the largest share of white, Indian and mixed population on the continent. The country has rich mineral resources, as well as the most economically developed on the continent and has a relatively strong global positions

Discussion and Analysis

The Republic of South Africa (Republic of South Africa), or South Africa, is an independent state of ' Southern Africa. It can be located on the southern tip of the African continent and bordered to the north by Namibia, on Botswana and Zimbabwe to the northeast by Mozambique and Swaziland, and includes within its borders on Lesotho. It also looks on the ' Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of mainland Africa, demarcates the border between the two oceans. Since the demise of apartheid, there in force until the early nineties, the country has acquired the informal title Rainbow Nation ("rainbow nation", or "inhabited by people of different colors"). South Africa is also the 'only nation in the world to recognize the three capitals: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial), however, and recognized internationally for the United Nations is the only capital Pretoria (Hinkle, 2010, 56-90).

Historical Background

About 10,000 years ago, today's South Africa, like all the ' South Africa inhabited by the Bushmen, which added later populations of similar ethnic Khoikhoi (Hottentots). Bushmen and Hottentots (collectively known as Khoisan) were hunter-gatherer nomads, who never gave rise to complex political structures or populous settlements. Subsequently (between III and V century) began to flow from East groups in Southern Africa Bantu, mainly Zulu and Xhosa. The Bantu migrations evolved over several centuries, reaching its fulfillment only in the first half of the second millennium. Good farmers and herders, the Bantu settled first in today's KwaZulu-Natal and then to the south; the Xhosa pushed up to today's Eastern Cape Province, by rejecting the Khoisan in the most arid and inhospitable area.

Climate Condition

The climate of South Africa is significantly different in relation to the large surface area, altitude, and exposure to the sea. The latitude and subtropical origin are the profound influence of maritime Mediterranean climate, which characterizes the southern part of the territory. Whereas the temperatures are mild and rainfall, exceeding 600 mm rainfall related to the advance of cold fronts during the Antarctic origin the ' winter, while most of the rest of southern Africa at the same time an area dominated by anticyclone ...