"South Africa is bordered on the north by Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; on the east by Mozambique, Swaziland, and the Indian Ocean; and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The nation of Lesotho forms an enclave in the eastern part of the country.The country is divided into nine provinces. These provinces are Gauteng, Limpopo Province (formerly Northern Province), Mpumalanga, North-West Province, Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. The country has three capitals: Cape Town is the legislative capital; Pretoria, the executive capital; and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.South Africa has more than 3,000 sites of rock art dating from the Stone Age that depict animals and other subjects. The Ndebele people are known for the bold and brightly colored patterns with which they paint their traditional rural homes. Early paintings by European travelers like Thomas Baines have considerable documentary value today.Architecturally, South Africa is best known for the distinctive Cape Dutch buildings found mainly in the Western Cape and considered among the world’s most beautiful domestic architecture.
South Africa has a large number of museums located in all major and many lesser cities and towns. The most notable include the National Museum in Bloemfontein, which contains archaeology, paleontology, and anthropology collections; Museum Africa in Johannesburg, which has collections relating to South African history, including displays representing the lives of South Africans under apartheid; and in Cape Town, the Michaelis Collection, the South African National Gallery, the South African Museum, and the South African Cultural History Museum.
Tourism is widely viewed as a rich, potential source of jobs and foreign exchange, and as an eventual alternative to the gold industry, which is in long-term decline. Attractions include the scenic beauty of the Cape wine region, the Drakensberg and the mountains of Mpumalanga, national parks and game reserves, beaches, and the climate. During the apartheid years this potential could not be realized because of the country’s negative international image and perceived political instability. Since 1994 the industry has expanded dramatically, with the number of overseas visitors increased by 52 percent in 1995 alone. In 2005, 7.5 million tourists visited South Africa."

"South Africa," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007
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