South Africa (officially, the Republic of South Africa, or RSA) is the southernmost country in Africa. Affectionately known as Mzansi to its residents, it is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, while entirely surrounding the country of Lesotho (one of only three such arrangements). Sporting eleven official languages and a few more unofficial ones, South Africa is head-spinningly diverse, though English has emerged as the de facto lingua franca.

Though South Africa has a stable government, a well-managed currency, and the largest economy in Africa, it is still working through the devastating aftereffects of the Apartheid regime. Its inequality and crime rates are among the highest in the world. Unemployment, persistently around 25%, is a deep and continuing problem. Racial tensions still simmer.

Nevertheless, South Africa is one of the world's most beautiful countries. From the skeletal spare desert south of Namibia to the Mediterranean wine country in northern Western Cape to the organized, safe and temperate Cape Town; from the stark, drenched Tsitsikamma and Port Elizabeth to the warm sun of Durban to the bitter cold of the winter Drakensburg; from the high riot of Johannesburg to the constrained wildness of Kruger to the cool fog of the winter highveld outside Nelspruit; South Africa is a land of contrast well worth visiting.