History of South Africans in Timeline

By Popular Timelines Editorial Team · Updated: May 15, 2025

South Africans are the people who hold citizenship in the Republic of South Africa, a country located at the southern tip of Africa. South Africa has a diverse population, including various ethnic groups like Afrikaners (descendants of Dutch settlers), English-speaking whites, and numerous Black African groups such as the Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, and Tswana. The country has a complex history marked by colonialism, apartheid, and the struggle for liberation, which has shaped its national identity. Today, South Africa is a multicultural nation with eleven official languages.

October 1995: South African Citizenship Act, 1995

According to the South African Citizenship Act, 1995, individuals born in South Africa from and including 6 October 1995 onwards, to at least one parent who held South African citizenship or South African permanent residency at the time of the individual's birth, are automatically South African citizens by birth.

2011: Province Population in 2011

In 2011, Gauteng was the province with the largest population in South Africa, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, and then the Western Cape.

2011: 2011 Census Data on Households

In 2011, the census recorded 14.4 million households with an average household size of 3.6.

2011: South Africa Population Census

In 2011, the population of South Africa was 51.7 million according to census data.

2022: Gender Distribution in 2022

According to the 2022 census data, females constituted 51.5% of the total population (~31.94 million people), while 48.5% were males (~30.07 million people).