There are eleven official names of South Africa, one in each of its eleven official languages. The number is surpassed only by India. These languages include English, Afrikaans, the Nguni languages (Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, and Swazi), as well as the Sotho languages, which include Tswana, Sotho and Northern Sotho. The remaining two languages are Venda and Tsonga.
There are smaller but still significant groups of speakers of Khoi-San languages which are not official languages, but are one of the eight un-officially recognised languages. There are even smaller groups of speakers of endangered languages, many of which are from the Khoi-San family, but receive no official status; however, some groups within South Africa are attempting to promote their use and revival. As a result, there are many official names for the country. These are:
| Language | Long form | Short form |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Republiek van Suid-Afrika | Suid-Afrika |
| English | Republic of South Africa | South Africa |
| Northern Sotho | Repabliki ya Afrika-Borwa | Afrika Borwa |
| Southern Ndebele | IRiphabliki yeSewula Afrika | iSewula Afrika |
| Southern Sotho | Rephaboliki ya Afrika Borwa | Afrika Borwa |
| Swazi | iRiphabhulikhi yeNingizimu Afrika | iNingizimu Afrika |
| Tsonga | Riphabliki ra Afrika Dzonga | Afrika-Dzonga |
| Tswana | Rephaboliki ya Aforika Borwa | Aforika Borwa |
| Venda | Riphabuḽiki ya Afurika Tshipembe | Afurika Tshipembe |
| Xhosa | iRiphabliki yomZantsi Afrika | uMzantsi Afrika |
| Zulu | iRiphabhuliki yaseNingizimu Afrika | iNingizimu Afrika |
And one former name:
| Language | Long form | Short form | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Republiek van Zuid-Afrika | Zuid-Afrika | 1961 — 1983 |
South Africa's country code, ZA, is an abbreviation of this former official name, Zuid-Afrika.
Famous quotes containing the words official, names, south and/or africa:
“I was perfectly certain that I had nothing to offer of an individual nature and that my only chance of doing my duty as the wife of a public official was to do exactly as the majority of women were doing ...”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“The world is a puzzling place today. All these banks sending us credit cards, with our names on them. Well, we didn’t order any credit cards! We don’t spend what we don’t have. So we just cut them in half and throw them out, just as soon as we open them in the mail. Imagine a bank sending credit cards to two ladies over a hundred years old! What are those folks thinking?”
—Sarah Louise Delany (b. 1889)
“There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear—the city of London and the South Seas.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“I know no East or West, North or South, when it comes to my class fighting the battle for justice. If it is my fortune to live to see the industrial chain broken from every workingman’s child in America, and if then there is one black child in Africa in bondage, there shall I go.”
—Mother Jones (1830–1930)