Southern Africa

Southern Africa is marked by sub-tropical, semiarid and temperate climates, in contrast to the tropical savannas and dense jungles of . Dramatic landscapes, such as , the , the Drakensberg Mountains and…
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Essential Destinations

Top destinations include South Africa and Namibia.

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is rich in culture, fauna, flora and history. 's southernmost country is a large country with widely varying landscapes, 12 official languages, and an equally diverse population and is often known as the "Rainbow Nation".

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is a country in Southern Africa, north of and west of , boasts remarkable natural attractions such as the Namib Desert, the , and the Kalahari Desert.

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is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. For those looking to travel in , is a great starting place. It is rich in fauna and flora and has numerous ancient stone cities including the largest in Africa south of the Sahara, .

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Zambia and Mozambique.

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offers travelers some of the world's best safari opportunities, a glimpse into "real Africa", and , one of the World's Seven Natural Wonders and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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is a country on the Indian Ocean coast of Southern Africa. From the Monte Binga peak, 2,436 m high, to the stunning beaches along the coast, is a country of contrasts.

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is a small, landlocked country in whose eastern border mostly follows Lake , the third largest lake on the continent. It's described as the "Warm Heart of Africa", referring to the friendliness of the people.

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is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, completely surrounded by four countries: , , , and . is a true gem among African nations, boasting a remarkable level of wealth and tranquility that few other countries on the continent can match.

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is a small landlocked country entirely surrounded by . It is known as the "Kingdom in the Sky" because the entire country is at a high altitude.

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The Kingdom of , formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa and is informally known as "Africa in a nutshell". Cushioned between and and Africa's last standing absolute monarchy, is one of Africa's smallest countries, attracting up to a million visitors each year.

Southern Africa

Latitude of center
-25.4565° or 25° 27′ 23″ south
Longitude of center
23.7141° or 23° 42′ 51″ east
Population
69,200,000
Wiki­data ID
Q27394
This page is based on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Southern Africa from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Achinese to Yue Chinese—“Southern Africa” goes by many names.
  • Achinese: “Afrika Blah Seulatan”
  • Achinese: “Afrika Blah Tunong”
  • Afrikaans: “Suider-Afrika”
  • Albanian: “Afrika jugore”
  • Albanian: “Afrika Jugore”
  • Arabic: “أفريقيا الجنوبية”
  • Arabic: “أفريقيا الجنوبيه”
  • Arabic: “إفريقيا الجنوبية”
  • Arabic: “جنوب أفريقيا (منطقة)”
  • Arabic: “جنوبي أفريقيا”
  • Armenian: “Հարավային Աֆրիկա”
  • Arpitan: “Africa ôstrâla”
  • Asturian: “África Austral”
  • Azerbaijani: “Cənubi Afrika”
  • Bashkir: “Көньяҡ Африка”
  • Basque: “Hegoaldeko Afrika”
  • Bavarian: “siadlichs Afrika”
  • Belarusian: “Паўднёвая Афрыка”
  • Bengali: “দক্ষিণাঞ্চলীয় আফ্রিকা”
  • Bosnian: “Južna Afrika”
  • Breton: “Afrika ar Su”
  • Bulgarian: “Южна Африка”
  • Catalan: “Àfrica Austral”
  • Central Bikol: “Aprikang Habagatan”
  • Central Kurdish: “باشووری ئەفریقا”
  • Chinese: “Lâm Hui-chiu”
  • Chinese: “南部非洲”
  • Chinese: “南非”
  • Chinese: “非洲南部”
  • Chuvash: “Кăнтăр Африка”
  • Corsican: “Africa australe”
  • Corsican: “Africa di u Sudu”
  • Croatian: “Južna Afrika”
  • Czech: “jižní Afrika”
  • Czech: “Jižní Afrika”
  • Danish: “Sydlige Afrika”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Verocê Afrika”
  • Dutch: “Zuidelijk Afrika”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “افريقيا الجنوبيه”
  • Esperanto: “Suda Afriko”
  • Estonian: “Lõuna-Aafrika”
  • Finnish: “Etelä-Afrikka”
  • Finnish: “Eteläinen Afrikka”
  • French: “Afrique australe”
  • French: “Afrique méridionale”
  • Galician: “África austral”
  • Georgian: “სამხრეთი აფრიკა”
  • German: “Südliches Afrika”
  • Greek: “Μεσημβρινή Αφρική”
  • Greek: “νότια Αφρική”
  • Haitian: “Afrik disid”
  • Hausa: “Kudancin Afirka”
  • Hebrew: “אפריקה הדרומית”
  • Hindi: “दक्षिणी अफ्रीका”
  • Hungarian: “Dél-Afrika”
  • Icelandic: “Sunnanverð Afríka”
  • Iloko: “Akin-abagatan nga Aprika”
  • Inari Sami: “máddáápiälááš Afrik”
  • Indonesian: “Afrika bagian selatan”
  • Indonesian: “Afrika bagian Selatan”
  • Irish: “Deisceart na hAfraice”
  • Italian: “Africa australe”
  • Italian: “Africa del Sud”
  • Italian: “Africa meridionale”
  • Japanese: “南アフリカ”
  • Japanese: “南部アフリカ”
  • Javanese: “Afrika Bagéyan Kidul”
  • Kabyle: “Tafriqt Wenẓul”
  • Kannada: “ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾ”
  • Kara-Kalpak: “Qubla Afrika”
  • Kazakh: “Оңтүстік Африка”
  • Kildin Sami: “Соа̄ййв Африка”
  • Kinaray-A: “Afrika Nabagatnan”
  • Kinaray-A: “Nabagatnan nga Afrika”
  • Kongo: “Afelika ya Sudi”
  • Korean: “남아불리가”
  • Korean: “남아프리카”
  • Kotava: “Geefa Afrika”
  • Latin: “Africa Austrina”
  • Latin: “Africa meridiana”
  • Latvian: “Dienvidāfrika”
  • Latvian: “Dienvidu Āfrika”
  • Lingala: “Afilíka ya Sidi”
  • Lingala: “Afríka ya Sidi”
  • Lingua Franca Nova: “Africa sude”
  • Lithuanian: “Pietų Afrika”
  • Lule Sami: “oarjje-Afrihkka”
  • Lule Sami: “oarjje-Afrijkka”
  • Luxembourgish: “Südlecht Afrika”
  • Macedonian: “Јужна Африка”
  • Malagasy: “Faritra Atsimo ao Afrika”
  • Malay: “Selatan Afrika”
  • Malay: “سلاتن افريکا”
  • Marathi: “दक्षिण आफ्रिका”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Lâm Hui-chiu”
  • Minangkabau: “Afrika Bagian Selatan”
  • Mingrelian: “ობჟათე აფრიკა”
  • Moksha: “Лямбеширень Африкась”
  • Mongolian: “Өмнө Африк”
  • Mongolian: “Өмнөд Африк”
  • N'Ko: “ߊߝߙߌߞߌ߬ ߥߙߏ߬ߘߎ߯”
  • N'Ko: “ߥߙߏ߬ߘߎ߯ ߊߝߙߌߞߌ߬”
  • Nepali: “दक्षिणी अफ्रिका”
  • Newari: “दक्षिणी अफ्रिका”
  • Northern Frisian: “Süüdelk Afrikoo”
  • Northern Sami: “lulli-Afrihká”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “det sørlige Afrika”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “sørlige Afrika”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “det sørlege Afrika”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “sørlege Afrika”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Sørlege Afrika”
  • Norwegian: “Sørlige Afrika”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Africa Australa”
  • Pedi: “Borwa ba Afrika”
  • Persian: “جنوب آفریقا”
  • Polish: “Afryka Południowa”
  • Portuguese: “África Austral”
  • Pushto: “سوېلي افريقا (سيمه)”
  • Pushto: “سوېلي افريقا”
  • Romanian: “Africa de Sud”
  • Romanian: “Africa Sudică”
  • Russian: “Южная Африка”
  • Rusyn: “Южна Африка”
  • Serbian: “Južna Afrika”
  • Serbian: “Јужна Африка”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Južna Afrika”
  • Shona: “Afurika ye Chamhembe”
  • Shona: “Chamhembe che Afurika”
  • Silesian: “Połedniowŏ Afryka”
  • Sindhi: “ڏاکڻي آفريڪا”
  • Sinhala: “දක්ෂිණ අප්‍රිකාව”
  • Skolt Sami: “saujj-Afrikk”
  • Slovak: “južná Afrika”
  • Slovak: “Južná Afrika”
  • Slovenian: “Južna Afrika”
  • Somali: “Koonfurta Afrika”
  • Southern Sotho: “Borwa ba Afrika”
  • Spanish: “África Austral”
  • Spanish: “África del Sur”
  • Spanish: “África meridional”
  • Spanish: “sur de África”
  • Standard Moroccan Tamazight: “ⵜⴰⴼⵔⵉⵇⵜ ⵏ ⵡⵓⵏⵥⵓⵍ”
  • Swahili: “Afrika ya Kusini”
  • Swahili: “Kusini mwa Afrika”
  • Swedish: “Södra Afrika”
  • Sylheti: “ꠖꠇꠘꠞ ꠀꠚ꠆ꠞꠤꠇꠣ”
  • Tagalog: “Katimugang Aprika”
  • Tajik: “Африқои Ҷанубӣ”
  • Tamil: “தெற்கு ஆபிரிக்கா”
  • Tatar: “Көньяк Африка”
  • Thai: “แอฟริกาใต้”
  • Turkish: “Güney Afrika”
  • Turkmen: “Günorta Afrika”
  • Tyap: “A̱tak Afi̱rika”
  • Ukrainian: “Південна Африка”
  • Urdu: “جنوبی افریقا”
  • Urdu: “جنوبی افریقہ”
  • Uzbek: “Janubiy afrika”
  • Uzbek: “Janubiy Afrika”
  • Venetian: “Àfrica Austrałe”
  • Venetian: “Africa del Sud”
  • Vietnamese: “Nam Phi”
  • Walloon: “Afrike nonnrece”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Kasalatan nga Apriká”
  • Welsh: “De Affrica”
  • Western Frisian: “Súdlik Afrika”
  • Wolaytta: “Tohossa Afriqqaa”
  • Wolof: “Bëj-saalumu Afrig”
  • Wu Chinese: “南部非洲”
  • Yakut: “Соҕурууҥҥу Африка”
  • Yiddish: “דרומדיקע אפריקע”
  • Yiddish: “דרומדיקע אַפֿריקע”
  • Yoruba: “Apágúúsù Áfríkà”
  • Yue Chinese: “非洲南部”

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