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Provinces of South Africa

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Provinces of South Africa
CategoryRegional state
LocationSouth Africa
Created27 April 1994 (1994-04-27)
Number9 Provinces
Populations1,355,946 (Northern Cape) – 15,099,422 (Gauteng)
Areas18,178 km2 (7,019 sq mi) (Gauteng) – 372,889 km2 (143,973 sq mi) (Northern Cape)
Government
SubdivisionsDistricts
Metropolitan municipality

South Africa has nine provinces.[1]

Just before the 1994 general election, the number of provinces went up from four to nine, because all the Bantustans became provinces.

Provinces have their own government, led by a Premier.

List

[change | change source]
Further information: Premiers of the provinces of South Africa
Province Name in the most spoken native language[2] Capital Largest city Area[3]: 9  Population
(2022)[4] 		Density
(2022) 		Map
Eastern Cape iMpuma-Koloni (Xhosa) Bhisho (Bisho) Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) 168,966 km2
(65,238 sq mi)		 7,230,204 42.8/km2
(111/sq mi)
Free State Freistata (Sotho) Bloemfontein Bloemfontein 129,825 km2
(50,126 sq mi)		 2,964,412 22.8/km2
(59/sq mi)
Gauteng eGoli (Zulu) Johannesburg Johannesburg 18,178 km2
(7,019 sq mi)		 15,099,422 830.6/km2
(2,151/sq mi)
KwaZulu-Natal iKwaZulu-Natali (Zulu) Pietermaritzburg[n 1] Durban 94,361 km2
(36,433 sq mi)		 12,423,907 131.7/km2
(341/sq mi)
Limpopo Limpopo (Pedi) Polokwane (Pietersburg) Polokwane 125,754 km2
(48,554 sq mi)		 6,572,720 52.3/km2
(135/sq mi)
Mpumalanga iMpumalanga (Swazi) Mbombela (Nelspruit) Mbombela 76,495 km2
(29,535 sq mi)		 5,143,324 67.2/km2
(174/sq mi)
North West Bokone Bophirima (Tswana) Mahikeng (Mafikeng) Rustenburg 104,882 km2
(40,495 sq mi)		 3,804,548 36.3/km2
(94/sq mi)
Northern Cape Noord-Kaap (Afrikaans) Kimberley Kimberley 372,889 km2
(143,973 sq mi)		 1,355,946 3.6/km2
(9.3/sq mi)
Western Cape[n 2] Wes-Kaap (Afrikaans) Cape Town Cape Town 129,462 km2
(49,986 sq mi)		 7,433,019 57.4/km2
(149/sq mi)
Republic of South Africa iRiphabhuliki yaseNingizimu Afrika (Zulu) Pretoria,
Bloemfontein
Cape Town[n 3][5]		 Johannesburg 1,220,813 km2
(471,359 sq mi)		 62,027,503 50.8/km2
(132/sq mi)

Footnotes:

  1. ↑ Pietermaritzburg and Ulundi were joint capitals of KwaZulu-Natal from 1994 to 2004.
  2. ↑ These statistics do not include the Prince Edward Islands (335 km2 or 129 sq mi, with no permanent residents), which are South African territories in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean but part of the Western Cape for legal and electoral purposes.
  3. ↑ Parliament sits in Cape Town, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, and the Executive branch in Pretoria.

Provincial acronyms

[change | change source]
Province HASC ISO FIPS CSS Conventional
Eastern Cape ZA.EC EC SF05 02 EC
Free State ZA.FS FS SF03 04 FS
Gauteng ZA.GT GP SF06 07 GP
KwaZulu-Natal ZA.NL KZN SF02 05 KZN
Limpopo ZA.NP LP SF09 09 LP
Mpumalanga ZA.MP MP SF07 08 MP
Northern Cape ZA.NC NC SF08 03 NC
North-West ZA.NW NW SF10 06 NW
Western Cape ZA.WC WC SF11 01 WC
Notes

HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes
ISO: Province codes from ISO 3166-2. For full identification in a global context, prefix "ZA-" to the code
FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10–4, a U.S. government standard.
CSS: Province codes used by the Central Statistical Service of South Africa.
[6]

Former administrative divisions

[change | change source]
Province Capital Peak population Location
Cape of Good Hope (1910–1994) Cape Town 6,125,335
Natal (1910–1994) Pietermaritzburg 2,430,753
Orange Free State (1910–1994) Bloemfontein 2,193,062
Transvaal (1910–1994) Pretoria 9,491,265
Homelands Capital Peak population Location
Bophuthatswana (1977–1994) † Mmabatho 1,478,950
Ciskei (1972–1994) † Bisho 677,920
Gazankulu (1971–1994) Giyani 954,771
KaNgwane (1981–1994) Louieville
Schoemansdal (de facto)		 779,240
KwaNdebele (1981–1994) KwaMhlanga 404,246
KwaZulu (1981–1994) Nongoma (until 1980)
Ulundi (1980–1994)		 5,524,774
Lebowa (1972–1994) Lebowakgomo 2,740,587
QwaQwa (1974–1994) Phuthaditjhaba 342,886
Transkei (1976–1994) † Umtata 2,323,650
Venda (1979–1994) † Thohoyandou 558,797
Mandates Capital Peak population
South West Africa Windhoek 1,415,000

Footnotes:

† States for which the homeland was quasi-independent.

References

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ https://southafrica-info.com/land/nine-provinces-south-africa/
  2. ↑ http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf, p. 25.
  3. ↑ Census 2011: Census in brief (PDF). Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. 2012. p. 30. ISBN 9780621413885. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Census 2022: Statistical release (PDF) (Report). Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. 2023. p. 3.
  5. ↑ "How Many Capital Cities Does South Africa Have?".
  6. ↑ "South African Provinces".
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