Africa · Southern Africa
South Africa
Robben Island · Photo: South African Tourism from South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Capital
- Pretoria
- Currency
- ZAR
- South African Rand
- Local time
- South Africa Standard TimeUTC+02:00
- Calling code
- +27
- Driving
- On the left
- Plugs
- Type C, D and N
Facts
South Africa in figures
- Capital
- Pretoria
- Currency
- South African Rand ZARToday's indicative rate: ZAR 10 ≈ USD 0.605Indicative, from the day's reference rates; a bank or card will charge its own.
- Languages
- Official: EnglishOfficial in part of the country: Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Tswana, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swati, Venda and South NdebeleSpoken: Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, English and Tswana
- Time zones
- South Africa Standard TimeUTC+02:00
- Calling code
- +27
- Driving
- On the left
- Plugs
- Type C, D and N230 V · 50 HzAs recorded in Wikidata.
- Emergency numbers
- 112ambulance, fire and policeAs recorded in Wikidata. Check them locally on arrival; they are not the only safety information you need.
- Population
- 64,747,319 (2025, World Bank)
- Area
- 1,219,912 km²
- Internet domain
- .za
When to go
Climate across South Africa
- Mild to warm and dry
- Mild to warm, humid or showery
- Hot
- Cool
- Wet
- Cold
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pretoria | 31° | 31° | 30° | 27° | 24° | 21° | 21° | 25° | 29° | 31° | 31° | 31° |
| Cape Town | 22° | 22° | 21° | 19° | 18° | 16° | 16° | 16° | 17° | 18° | 19° | 21° |
| Johannesburg | 28° | 28° | 27° | 24° | 21° | 18° | 18° | 22° | 26° | 28° | 28° | 28° |
| Bloemfontein | 32° | 31° | 29° | 24° | 21° | 17° | 17° | 20° | 25° | 29° | 30° | 32° |
| Durban | 25° | 26° | 26° | 24° | 23° | 22° | 21° | 21° | 22° | 22° | 23° | 24° |
| Gqeberha | 24° | 25° | 24° | 23° | 21° | 20° | 19° | 19° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 23° |
| Kimberley | 34° | 33° | 31° | 26° | 22° | 18° | 18° | 22° | 27° | 30° | 32° | 34° |
| Polokwane | 29° | 29° | 28° | 25° | 23° | 20° | 20° | 23° | 27° | 29° | 29° | 29° |
| Pietermaritzburg | 27° | 26° | 26° | 23° | 22° | 20° | 20° | 22° | 24° | 25° | 25° | 26° |
| Mbombela | 31° | 31° | 30° | 27° | 26° | 24° | 24° | 26° | 29° | 30° | 31° | 31° |
| Cities good for going, of 26 | 22 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 22 |
Mostly sea in the model's grid cell: the highs shown run lower than on land.
Mean daily highs, modelled for an area about 50 km across: NASA POWER climatology, 2001–2020. A cell's swatch says what the month is like (key above).
Cities
Cities in South Africa
- PretoriaCapitalGauteng2,112,693
- JohannesburgGauteng9,418,183
- Cape TownGuideWestern Cape4,772,846
- DurbanKwaZulu-Natal3,338,026
- SowetoGauteng1,695,047
- GqeberhaEastern Cape1,050,078
- SoshanguveGauteng872,309
- PietermaritzburgKwaZulu-Natal839,327
- EvatonGauteng725,468
- BenoniGauteng605,344
- BloemfonteinFree State556,637
- ThembisaGauteng511,655
- East LondonEastern Cape478,676
- VereenigingGauteng474,681
- BoksburgGauteng445,168
- WelkomFree State431,944
- NewcastleKwaZulu-Natal404,838
- KrugersdorpGauteng378,821
- RustenburgNorth West373,695
- EmalahleniMpumalanga373,403
- RoodepoortGauteng326,416
- BotshabeloFree State309,714
- BrakpanGauteng305,692
- PolokwaneLimpopo272,461
- KimberleyNorthern Cape142,089
- MbombelaMpumalanga110,159
Smaller places with an airport · 10
Airports
Airports in South Africa
Large airports
- HLALanseria International AirportJohannesburg
- JNBO.R. Tambo International AirportJohannesburg
- CPTCape Town International AirportCape Town
- DURKing Shaka International AirportDurban
- PLZChief Dawid Stuurman International AirportGqeberha
- BFNBram Fischer International AirportBloemfontein
- ELSKing Phalo AirportEast London
- PTGPolokwane International AirportPolokwane
- GRJGeorge AirportGeorge
- KIMKimberley AirportKimberley
- MQPKruger Mpumalanga International AirportMbombela
Photographs
South Africa in pictures
Cape TownPhoto: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
PretoriaPhoto: Petrus Potgieter · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
JohannesburgPhoto: Evan Bench · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
BloemfonteinPhoto: South African Tourism from South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Guides
Our guides in South Africa
Visas and entry
Visas and entry
Entry rules depend on your passport and change often, so this page does not state them. Check the destination government's official immigration website, or ask our visa desk to check your case for you.
Plan it
Plan a trip to South Africa
Tell us where in South Africa, when and who is travelling, and a person puts the flights, the stays and the rest into one quote.