South Africa
/ˌsaʊθ ˈæfrɪkə/
/ˌsaʊθ ˈæfrɪkə/
- the country at the southern tip of Africa. Its capital city is Pretoria but Cape Town and Bloemfontein also function as capitals. In the 17th and 18th centuries different areas of the country were settled by the Dutch and the British, who fought each other in the Boer Wars. South Africa became part of the British Empire in the late 18th century. In 1909 it became an independent member of the Commonwealth, but left in 1961 after establishing the policy of apartheid (= trying to keep the races of the country separate, with the white people in control). Most other countries did not agree with this policy, and many countries refused to trade with South Africa or to take part in sports events with it. In 1994, after years of international pressure, the South African government allowed everybody the same voting rights and Nelson Mandela became the country's first black president. South Africa is the richest country in Africa, and is one of the world's largest producers of diamonds, gold and other valuable metals. Because of the many different groups and cultures that make up the population and its 11 official languages, South Africa is known as the rainbow nation.
南非：位于非洲最南端的国家。它的首都是比勒陀利亚，但开普敦和布隆方丹也起首都的作用。在17和18世纪，荷兰人和英国人在布尔战争中相互交战，在该国的不同地区定居。南非在18世纪后期成为大英帝国的一部分。1909年，它成为英联邦的独立成员，但在建立了种族隔离政策（试图将国家的种族分开，白人控制下）后于1961年离开。大多数其他国家不同意这项政策，许多国家拒绝与南非进行贸易或与南非参加体育赛事。经过多年的国际压力，1994年，南非政府允许所有人享有相同的投票权，纳尔逊·曼德拉（Nelson Mandela）成为该国第一位黑人总统。南非是非洲最富有的国家，并且是世界上最大的钻石，黄金和其他贵重金属生产国之一。由于构成人口的多种不同群体和文化及其11种正式语言，南非被称为彩虹之国。