South Africa: flag, capital & map
Get to know South Africa, then put your memory to work.
Country facts
- Capital
- Pretoria
- Region
- Africa
- Subregion
- Southern Africa
- Population (2025, World Bank)
- 64,747,319
- Area
- 1,221,037 km²
- Languages (REST Countries)
- Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
- Currency (CLDR, October 2026)
- South African Rand (ZAR)
South Africa has three capitals: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial).
Dated population: World Bank; geographic facts: REST Countries; currencies: Unicode CLDR. Sources and dates →
Flag of South Africa
The flag of South Africa is composed of two equal horizontal bands of red and blue, with a yellow-edged black isosceles triangle superimposed on the hoist side of the field. This triangle has its base centered on the hoist end, spans about two-fifth the width and two-third the height of the field, and is enclosed on its sides by the arms of a white-edged green horizontally oriented Y-shaped band which extends along the boundary of the red and blue bands to the fly end of the field.
Where it is
South Africa is grouped in Southern Africa, within Roam’s Africa region. Its land-border list includes 6 countries in this atlas: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Zimbabwe. The source classifies it as not landlocked.
South Africa has a recorded area of 1,221,037 square kilometres. Among the 6 countries assigned to Southern Africa in this dataset, it ranks 1 by area, from largest to smallest. Namibia is immediately below it, at 825,615 km². This comparison uses the source’s area figures and subregions, not a ranking of all territories.
The marker shows the atlas location. Small countries may be too small for an outline at this scale. Map boundaries are illustrative.
People, languages and currency
The World Bank records 64,747,319 people for South Africa in 2025. This is the latest non-empty annual observation in Roam’s committed 2020–2025 download, rather than a live population counter. Dividing that population by the source area gives approximately 53 people per square kilometre. This calculated average does not describe how evenly people are distributed.
The language entries in the source are Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu. They describe the dataset’s listed languages, not every language spoken by residents. The currency listed for this date is South African Rand (ZAR). Currency assignments are selected from Unicode CLDR’s date ranges for 23 October 2026; the three-letter codes identify currencies, not countries.
Test yourself
Cover the facts above and work through these five questions. Open each answer when you are ready to check it. You can use this section without JavaScript.
What is the capital of South Africa?
Reveal answer
Pretoria. South Africa has three capitals: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial).
Without looking at the image, how would you describe the flag of South Africa?
Reveal answer
The flag of South Africa is composed of two equal horizontal bands of red and blue, with a yellow-edged black isosceles triangle superimposed on the hoist side of the field. This triangle has its base centered on the hoist end, spans about two-fifth the width and two-third the height of the field, and is enclosed on its sides by the arms of a white-edged green horizontally oriented Y-shaped band which extends along the boundary of the red and blue bands to the fly end of the field.
Which land neighbours of South Africa are included in this atlas?
Reveal answer
Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe. The source classifies South Africa as not landlocked.
Which languages does the source list for South Africa?
Reveal answer
Afrikaans, English, Southern Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu. These are the source’s language entries, not a complete inventory of every language spoken in South Africa.
Which currency codes are listed for South Africa?
Reveal answer
South African Rand (ZAR). These assignments use Unicode CLDR’s legal-tender date ranges for 23 October 2026.
Try it from memory
5 questions. Answers and feedback appear after each attempt. This short quiz does not change your daily score or saved progress.