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South Africa Country Quiz

Can you guess these facts about the country of South Africa?
Quiz by alberici
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Last updated: May 13, 2020
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First submittedAugust 16, 2013
Times taken53,757
Average score67.9%
Rating4.50
5:00
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Clue
Answer
Capital cities
Pretoria
Cape Town
Bloemfontein
Most populous city
Johannesburg
Noisemaker made famous at
the 2010 World Cup
Vuvuzela
Former president (2009–2018)
Jacob Zuma
Former president (1994–1999)
Nelson Mandela
Island prison where the above once lived
Robben Island
Terms for the period of racial segregation
Apartheid
Ruling political party
African National Congress
Largest desert
Kalahari
Currency
Rand
Rugby union team nickname
(Hint: antelope)
Springboks
Group of people descended from
Dutch settlers
Boers
Not actually the southernmost point,
but close
Cape of Good Hope
Nobel Prize winning Anglican bishop
Desmond Tutu
Longest river
Orange
Company that once controlled over 90%
of diamond trade worldwide
De Beers
Bordering Countries
Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Mozambique
Namibia
Zimbabwe
 
Most Spoken Languages
Zulu
Xhosa
Afrikaans
English
51 Comments
+3
Level 93
Oct 16, 2013
I'd include Bokke as a nickname for the rugby team.
+2
Level ∞
Aug 18, 2015
Okay
+1
Level 67
Feb 24, 2016
Not that anyone would bother going this far, but I often hear South African rugby commentators calling their nation team the 'Blitzbokke', so maybe you could accept that as well? I just like to be able to put more interesting answers in to spice up the whole process.
+10
Level 43
Mar 1, 2016
The Blitzbokke are the Rugby sevens team not the Rugby Union team
+1
Level 50
Apr 5, 2024
I'm not familiar with rugby, what's the difference with 7 and union?
+1
Level 78
Sep 14, 2018
I think that's fine, but only one rugby question?

Surely more are in order?

+6
Level 58
Jul 31, 2020
What about cricket then? Or soccer? Both important sports in South Africa. It's not all about rugby.
+2
Level 64
Mar 4, 2014
It's been a long time since I have been to South Africa. This quiz brought back some good memories!
+4
Level 67
Apr 4, 2014
Maybe you could accept "Oranje" for the river? I didn't know what it was called in English (being from a non-English-speaking country).
+4
Level ∞
Aug 18, 2015
Oranje will work now
+5
Level 65
Apr 21, 2015
yay, living in a neighbouring country has some uses
+21
Level 70
Feb 22, 2016
It's better than dying in a neighbouring country!
+3
Level 17
Nov 6, 2015
what do you mean
+5
Level 63
Feb 22, 2016
I'm not quite sure why there is a clue for the rugby team. Seems a bit unnecessary.
+6
Level 66
Feb 22, 2016
..particularly as there isn't one for the football team, which might've helped!
+2
Level 51
Feb 25, 2017
I agree, does not need to be a hint for the rugby question. After years of international exile because of racial policies, South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup at home. Then-president Nelson Mandela famously wore the national jersey (which for some symbolised apartheid) as South Africa prepared to play the NZ Allblacks in the final. Symbolically, he was saying to forgive past grievances and come together as one to win, which, unfortunately for myself as a Kiwi, had the desired effect, South Africa winning in extra time.
+3
Level 67
Feb 22, 2016
Could some spelling mistakes be accepted for Xhosa? Guessed Xosa and Xosha before giving up on this. Also moved on after guessing springbok. but didn't think of adding the s
+6
Level 65
Aug 27, 2019
I agree, can Springbok also be accepted as an answer. Also, Afrikaner as an accepted answer for decendants of the Dutch. Boer technically refers only to the farmers.
+4
Level 81
Feb 23, 2016
100% in about a minute. but i suppose i do live here. it actually made me feel kinda dirty it was that easy. like i was cheating. but i consoled myself that it makes up for all the NFL quizzes where i dont have a clue whats going on
+4
Level 74
Feb 23, 2016
Why feel bad about that? It's a great advantage if you already know all these facts! It shows that you know very much about your home country (even if they're just basic facts). Concerning the NFL quizzes, I never take them either. I live in Switzerland and hence have absolutely no clue about american football (and also no interest in it. I am much more into soccer :))
+9
Level 43
May 19, 2016
Could you accept isiZulu and isiXhosa for Zulu and Xhosa?
+3
Level 83
Dec 3, 2016
Joburg should be accepted
+4
Level 46
Dec 9, 2016
+1 for Jo-Burg or Joburg
+3
Level ∞
May 13, 2020
Four years later - sure!
+2
Level 46
Dec 9, 2016
Blitzed through them until I got to the diamond trading company, still got it in the end, then finished it off easily. Great Quiz, easy for a South African like me :)
+3
Level 63
Feb 13, 2017
I was thinking way too hard about the bordering countries that I forgot Lesotho and Swaziland...
+3
Level 23
Oct 22, 2017
100% on this quiz. Would be a shame if i got anything lower since i live here
+2
Level 32
Oct 23, 2017
I got 22 out of the 28 questions(should've been 23, but I misspelled Springboks and did not want to cheat - it's no fun cheating) and I'm not South African. But I'm visiting SA next January and I'm sooooo excited about it. Really looking forward to it.
+1
Level 23
May 16, 2018
Cyril Ramaphosa is now president. And Pretoria's official name is actually Tshwane so please can you accept that.
+5
Level ∞
Sep 12, 2018
Pretoria is part of Tshwane, it is not the same as Tshwane.
+13
Level 76
Sep 12, 2018
Tshwane's former city logo shows Pretoria's parliament with the phrase "We are the same"!
+14
Level ∞
Sep 12, 2018
Lol. Jerry928 you'd make a good conspiracy theorist!
+2
Level 90
Sep 14, 2018
Are most people taking this quiz from South Africa or are a few very trivial things actually common knowledge everywhere?
+5
Level 93
Sep 16, 2018
I'd go with common knowledge, presidents and politics being in the news often and the dutch tribe being historically prominent. Also never underestimate the number of quizzes done beofre by jetpunk members.
+5
Level 83
Sep 21, 2018
Common knowledge among JetPunkers at least. I got 100% on first try without being from SA.
+4
Level 73
Mar 11, 2019
None of these facts about South Africa is exactly trivial, it's not an obscure country.
+4
Level ∞
May 13, 2020
Very little of this is common knowledge outside of South Africa. The answer is simple: Nerds are taking the test and wrecking the curve.
+1
Level 60
Apr 15, 2022
True That! Geeks being Geeks
+3
Level 91
Jul 26, 2020
A lot of these answers were featured in other quizzes scattered around the site, like General Knowledge quizzes, which helped me remember most of these.
+5
Level 85
Mar 17, 2019
Boer means farmer. Afrikaners are what they are.
+3
Level 36
Jul 18, 2019
They may be Afrikaners now, but they are the offspring of the Boers (farmers) who originally settled there.
+3
Level 65
Aug 27, 2019
Not all of them would have been farmers when they settled in the Cape, some of them were French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution in France. Some would have been soldiers and traders. I do not understand why Afrikaner is not accepted as an answer. It is correct (and potentially more correct than Boer, which is more like a nickname, but one that gained currency due to the propensity of Afrikaners to engage in farming).
+4
Level 57
Apr 21, 2020
Yes I agree, "Afrikaners" is more correct than "Boers". Boers is not quite right, as the Cape was first a trading post with limited land-holding. They became known as Boers later, when they moved inland, especially to escape the British.
+2
Level 20
Jul 26, 2020
Hey guys I just made my first quiz “guess the ethnicity #1” I just really want people to see it and hopefully it will be nominated! Go ahead and check it out!
+3
Level 65
Aug 3, 2020
Desmond Mpilo Tutu should also be accepted
+2
Level 60
Sep 5, 2020
Wonderful, with a good amount of questions.
+4
Level 61
Sep 14, 2020
Interesting that nearly only half as many people knew the name of Jacob Zuma as knew the Springboks! Lots of rugby fans on this site?
+1
Level 41
Oct 1, 2022
Please accept "afrikaners" as well as boers! Afrikaans-speaking people of dutch descent are considered afrikaners, and "boers" primarily refers to farmers.
+1
Level 23
Nov 17, 2023
finished this in 1:58

(I live here though);)

+2
Level 46
Nov 17, 2023
Hi, South African here. I would say that "Boer" is not really as commonly used here anymore in this era. I notice foreigners use the word often, and while it was the historically used term here, it is not used quite as often anymore. Not never but just not as often. More people now would use "Afrikaners" or just "Afrikaans" for the "descendants of the Dutch" description more often than "Boer".

And before anyone else from SA asks, no I'm not Afrikaans or even white myself, just something I noted.

Otherwise, good quiz :)

+1
Level 46
Feb 16, 2024
Willy you accept debeeres. I got It wrong based on the "e".