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Hôtel Balmoral ***
A little gem nestled near the iconic Arc de Triomphe. A fabulous address for your next trip to Paris!
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South Africa offers a diversity of ecologically-interesting regions, from spectacular mountain ranges and subtropical regions to Kalahari desert dunes and vast stretches of grassland – not to mention two thousand kilometers of coastline, divided between the imposing Atlantic and the warm Indian Ocean. The country’s flora and fauna are among the richest in the world. South Africa has 212 animal parks and reserves, 17 of which are top rank national parks.
See also: The Cuisine of South Africa
Status: Republic
Government: Republic; democratic state; transitional presidential system made up of a president of the republic, a vice-president, a national assembly composed of 400 members elected by direct universal suffrage and a 90-member senate (10 senators for each of the nine new regions.)
South Africa came about in 1910 through the unification of four provinces: Cape Town, Transvall, Orange and Natal.
Capital: Pretoria (Cape Town)
Currency: The monetary unit is the rand, for which the international symbol is ZAR (divided into 100 cents). There are 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10 rand notes.
Languages spoken: There are 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. English-speaking travelers will have no problem making themselves understood throughout the country.
Principal industries:
Large mining resources (world’s largest gold producer; fifth for coal and diamonds)
Agriculture: Wheat, corn, sugar cane, oranges, wine
- Area: 1,221,037 square kilometers
- The country occupies the whole southern tip of the continent, with two coasts, one on the Atlantic, one on the Indian Ocean.
- It is divided into 9 provinces:
- Eastern Cape
- Free State
- Gauteng
- Kwa Zulu-Natal
- Mpumalanga
- North West
- Northern Cape
- Northern Province
- Western Cape
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