SOUTH AFRICA

Conventional long form: Republic of South Africa

Abbreviation: RSA

Population: 49,004,031 (2011 estimate)

Median age: 25 years

Age structure: (2011 estimates)
0–14 years: 28.5%
15–64 years: 65.8%
65 years and over: 5.7%

GDP per capita (PPP): $10,700 (2010 estimate in US dollars)

Suffrage: 18 years old; universal

Legal drinking age: 18 years old

Advertising Note

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

—Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa

For advertisers, there is always a question of which South African language to choose for their advertisements. There are 11 official languages; the most widely spoken is Zulu (or isiZulu). The others, from largest number of speakers to fewest, include isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Sepedi (Northern Sotho), English, Setswana, Sesotho (Southern Sotho), Xitsonga, isiNdebele, Tshivenda, and siSwati.