South Africa is no doubt a magnificent country, home to diverse people, fauna and flora, food, cultures and landscapes. It’s no wonder Mzansi is listed as a top holiday destination for 2021.
Many residents and tourists know a lot a about the Rainbow Nation, but some of these lesser-known facts might surprise even the most patriotic Saffa.
The Springbok is an emblem of South Africa.
1. Cape Town has the 5th best blue sky in the world (according to the UK’s National Physical Laboratory).
2. Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is the biggest hospital in the world.
3. South Africa is the only country in the entire world that has voluntarily abandoned its nuclear weapons programme.
4. South Africa is home to the largest wine cellar in the world. The KWV cellars in Paarl cover an area of 22 hectares (54 acres) and has a capacity of 121 million litres.
5. The Cape Floral Kingdom is one of the world’s six floral kingdoms – and the only one which is wholly contained within a single country.
6. The world’s largest themed resort hotel in the world – The Palace of the Lost City at Sun City Resort – is found in South Africa. Surrounding the Palace is a 25 hectare manmade botanical jungle with almost 2 million plants, trees and shrubs.
7. Two South African Nobel Peace Prize winners lived on the same street in South Africa. Both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu had houses on Vilakazi Street in Soweto.
8. South Africa has 10 UNESCO-designated World Heritage sites. They include Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape; Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape; Khomani Cultural Landscape; Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains; Cape Floral Region Protected Areas; iSimangaliso Wetland Park; Vredefort Dome; Maloti-Drakensberg Park; Robben Island; and the Cradle of Humankind.
Sources: Running Wolf’s Rant; US News; Sable International
Image credit: Pexels
