Which language is mostly spoken in South Africa?
The most common language spoken as a first language by South Africans is Zulu (23 percent), followed by Xhosa (16 percent), and Afrikaans (14 percent). English is the fourth most common first language in the country (9.6%), but is understood in most urban areas and is the dominant language in government and the media.
What language do white South African speak?
According to the Census 2011, South African English is the first language of 36% of the white population group and Afrikaans is the first language of 61% of the white population group. The majority of white South Africans identify themselves as primarily South African, regardless of their first language or ancestry.
What language do black South African speak?
About 70% of South Africans speak one of the Bantu languages. There is an almost perfect correlation between race and language: those who speak a Bantu language as a mother tongue are black African, and there are few blacks who do not speak a Bantu language.
Is Afrikaans the same as Dutch?
Afrikaans is a Dutch dialect. It’s actually a 17th century form of Dutch as it was the language spoken in Holland at the time they settled and colonized what was then South Africa. The language in Holland progressed and evolved while the Dutch (Afrikaans) of South Africa pretty much remained the same.
What is the main religion in South Africa?
Almost 80% of South African population adheres to the Christian faith. Other major religious groups are Hindus, Muslims and Jews.
What is South Africa known for?
South Africa, the southernmost country on the African continent, renowned for its varied topography, great natural beauty, and cultural diversity, all of which have made the country a favoured destination for travelers since the legal ending of apartheid (Afrikaans: “apartness,” or racial separation) in 1994.
What country owns South Africa?
Increased European encroachment ultimately led to the colonisation and occupation of South Africa by the Dutch. The Cape Colony remained under Dutch rule until 1795 before it fell to the British Crown, before reverting back to Dutch Rule in 1803 and again to British occupation in 1806.
What is the majority race in South Africa?
As of 2019, South Africa’s population increased and counted approximately 58.4 million inhabitants in total, of which the majority (roughly 47.4 million) were Black Africans. Individuals with an Indian or Asian background formed the smallest population group, counting approximately 1.45 million people overall.
Do white South Africans know Zulu?
But no self-respecting black person would answer to Funigalo today. So whites opt to learn Zulu, as it is a key to other languages in the Nguni group, such as Xhosa and Swazi.
Who speaks Afrikaans?
| Afrikaans | |
|---|---|
| Native to | South Africa, Namibia |
| Ethnicity | Afrikaners Basters Cape Coloureds Cape Malay Griqua |
| Native speakers | 7.2 million (2016) 10.3 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002) |
| Language family | Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Weser-Rhine Germanic Low Franconian Dutch (Hollandic dialect) Afrikaans |
What is the youngest language in the world?
Rich in idiom and emotion, Afrikaans was born 340 years ago in the homes of South Africa’s white Dutch, German and French settlers. Not only is it the world’s youngest national language, it is one of the smallest, with just 13 million speakers.
What is Afrikaans a mix of?
Afrikaans is a creole language that evolved during the 19th century under colonialism in southern Africa. This simplified, creolised language had its roots mainly in Dutch, mixed with seafarer variants of Malay, Portuguese, Indonesian and the indigenous Khoekhoe and San languages.
Is Afrikaans just old Dutch?
As an estimated 90 to 95% of Afrikaans vocabulary is ultimately of Dutch origin, there are few lexical differences between the two languages; however, Afrikaans has a considerably more regular morphology, grammar, and spelling.
Is Dutch easy to learn?
How hard is it to learn? Dutch is probably the easiest language to learn for English speakers as it positions itself somewhere between German and English.
Is South Africa Dutch?
Dutch has been present in South Africa since the establishment in 1652 of the first permanent Dutch settlement around what is now Cape Town.