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Realschule Filderstadt

2,2014

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South Africa: Geography; Population and Policy, Culture and Media



Table of Contents


1. overview


2. geography

2.1. climate

2.2. animalsand plants

2.3. nationalparks

2.4. capital and cities


3. population and policy

3.1. religions

3.2. languages

3.3. constitution

3.4. government andparliament


4. culture/ media

4.1. education

4.2. kitchen

1. overview


The Republic of South Africa is a country in Africa and is situated on the southern tip of the continent. The borderline of the coast have a length of more than 2500 kilometers. In the economy have the country South Africa on the continent Africa a great power. There are a lot of natural resources.

The industry gets there gold, diamonds, platinum, chromium and many other ores. In the south and south-east is the border of South Africa at the Indian Ocean and in the west at the Atlantic Ocean. The neighboring countries Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique border to South Africa in the north and Swaziland in the east.

The Kingdom Lesotho is an enclave, because it is completely surround by South Africa. In South Africa you can pay with the currency “Rand”. The name of the president of the country today is Jacob Zuma. In South Africa are two zones of time and is located in the same zone of time like Germany.

The Republic of South Africa is situated on an area of about 1.2 million square kilometers. In this Land are living 54 million people with very different backgrounds. South Africa is often called the rainbow nation, because there live people with all colors of the skin.

The history and politics of the country were determined by the conflicts of the different groups in the population. There were always big problems between the white immigrants from Europe and the local people, which were in the majority. Such problems are not completely eliminated today.

In the 17th/18th Century European emigrants from the Netherlands conquered the areas of South Africa. They led many wars, founded a colony and oppressed the located people for a long time. This period of repression of the black people continued after the year 1948. The government consisted of white immigrants and designed all sectors of society with the principle “separate development”.

Later this policy was called “apartheid”. Many countries around the world rejected this policy. The oppressed population fought many years against this policy and in 1990 began the turn. The turn was peaceful under the leader Nelson Mandela and it changed the live in South Africa complete.

In 1994 was the first und free choice for all people in this country.


2.1. climate


In South Africa we find very different climate zones. The climate in this land is warm, sunny and dry. It is characterized by the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast and by the Indian ocean on the east coast. In South east, there is the most rainfall and moderate temperatures.

But the northwest have only small rain and hot temperatures. There, in the northwest of the country is a large desert: the Kalahari desert. In the region further South around Kapstadt we find a Mediterranean climate. The air there is warm and rich on water. In the middle of the country are large areas of steppes.

This region is high and receives not much rainfall. The Agulha river gives on the east coast a hot and humid weather. In the South of South Africa we find a Subtropical climate with large forests If we have summer, then winter in South Africa because the country is at the southern hemisphere of the earth.

Snow is only available in the months June, July and August on higher mountains.


2.2. Animals and plants


South Africa is home to over 20,000 different plants and animals.
Theclimatic zonesof the countrydetermine theirpropagation. Many plants we can found only in these areas of the world. Most of the plants in South Africa are evergreen and they have a fine, solid and needle-like foliage.

In South Africa, there are some forests and a lot of flowering plants. One example is thesugarbush. Near the west coast there are different types of succulents. They can store water. One example is the Aloe. In the north of the Kruger National Park we can find a lot of baobab trees.
The wildlife in South Africa can be observed in many National Parks and protected areas.

In South Africa there are more than 300 species of mammals, more than 500 bird species, more than 100 species of reptiles and many species of insects at home.
There we can find the African "Big Five": lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino. But in South Africa also live antelopes, giraffes, hippos, cheetahs, wild dogs, springbok and many more animals.
The most important birds are ostriches, flamingos and many birds of prey.


2.3. National parks


In South Africa we can find many National parks. These National Parks was created to protect the nature. All together they have an area of over 45.000 square kilometers. This is an area in the size of 2 x Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. People around the world know these parks everywhere in the country.

The Kruger National Park is the biggest and most famous park with an area of 20,000 square kilometers. There we can find a unique nature and there are living 147 different mammals. Thousands of visitors visit every year the National Parks in South Africa. They can camp there or rent different houses.

Visitors can see there unforgettable safaris in a beautiful landscape.


2.4. Capital and cities


In the Republic South Africa we can find three capital cities: the government is in Pretoria, the parliament is in Cape Town and the Supreme Court is in Bloemfontein. European people see Pretoria as Capital, because there is the seat of the government. The biggest city is Johannesburg and there live about 4.5 million inhabitants.

In 2000 many cites was united with their townships. Townships are districts for black people and they were built in the time of apartheid. They are very big and a well-known example is Soweto. Today is Soweto a part of town of Johannesburg.


3.1. Religions


South Africa is the home of different religious denominations. The majority of the South African people have a Christian faith. We can find a big variety of
Churches.
The Christians inSouth Africa come together inan independentblackchurch. There are a fewthousand of thesechurches. It is difficult to classify the churches.

They have their roots in the Christian Protestant Church and integrate traditional and African conceptions of faith. All of these churches are not under the control of white people. They arosefrom thedesireto break free fromwhitedomination. The biggest of these independent black churches in South Africa is the Zion Christian Church.


3.2. languages


South Africa havesincethe end of apartheid11officiallanguages: English, Afrikaans,isiZulu, Swati, Southern Ndebele,Sesotho, Sepedi, Xitsonga, Setswana, Venda LanguageandisiXhosa. This makes South Africato a country with the mostofficiallanguages of the world.All 11official languagesare equal.The Englishlanguage has beenthe leading languageof the population.

Thislanguageunderstandallpeoplein South Africaand the languageit is not connectedwiththeapartheid. Thenative languageof the coloredpeopleisAfrikaans. ButAfrikaanswas the leadinglanguagein thetimeofapartheid. Todaydon´t speak theSouth Africanpeoplethislanguage, becausethis languagehave a strong connectionwiththeapartheid.


3.3. constitution


For thetimeof transitionSouthAfricahad aconstitutionof the transition. Themembers oftheAssemblymade anewconstitutionin May1997. This paper was accepted by the South African Court and the President Nelson Mandela signed the Constitution. Since thattimetheconstitutionis valid and themost importantbasisof the lawof the state. The Constitution consists of one preamble, 14 chapters and some details. Thepopulationof the stateSouthAfricahave manyrights today.Equality before thecourt or protection againstdiscriminationareexamples.

Other human rights are the right to life, protection for
Slavery and the right to liberty and security. Other important points are
the freedom of speech, religion, meetings and associations. The Constitution regulates
an independent and impartial judiciary.





Compared to other African countries have the people of South Africa a good
Education. About 87% of the people over 15 years can read and write.
Educational institutions of the black population were on the time at apartheid very reset. Black students received only a restricted training.

Sometimes they could study only in foreign countries. The teachers at the schools for whites had a very good education,
but at the schools for blacks were only 15% teachers with good education. In
a class with a teacher learnt 18 white students or 39 black students.
There are
to this day not the same chances for education.

It is a very big task for the government to change this. Today in public schools learn in a
Class with a teacher about 30 students.





Inthecuisine of South Africa is meat veryimportant.One popular
activity of theSouth African peopleisAfrikaans Braai. AfrikaansBraaiisa barbecue. The South Africans people grilleverything:pork,lamb, fishandBoerewors. Boereworsis a sharp
sausage with meatfrom beef or pork. It havethe shapeof a snailandincludesome spices.
Anothertypical dishisbiltong. Thisisespeciallydried meat. Oftenis it aSnack.The South African people ofteneatcurry dishes.They havean Indiantouch.In the kitchenof the poorandmostlyblack people aredominate simple dishes.

Thereis another famousfoodMealie-pap. This isa kind ofpolenta. SouthAfricais a majorproducer ofwine. Some of the bestwineries in the world arelocatenearStellenboschand Paarlin the Western Cape.




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