South+African+Culture

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= =South African culture=


 * South Africa is a country rich in culture, and has been referred to as the 'rainbow nation', a title which shows the country's cultural diversity. The population of South Africa is one of the most diverse in the world. Of the estimated 45 million South Africans, nearly 31 million are Black, 5 million White, 3 million Coloured and one million Indian. The population density of South Africa is 32.9 people per square kilometre.**


 * The difference between white and black people**

For many years, black and white people have been separated from eachother in South Africa. And therefore have the cultures and habbits of the two races gone it separate ways.


 * Languages**

There are 11 offical languages in South Africa. Afrikaans and South African english are the two languages of European origin. Afrikaans is mainly shaped by dutch, and is spoken by most of the white and coloured population in south africa.

A large amount of the black population speak Bantu languages, 9 of these are official.

The Zulu Group The largest ethnic group in South Africa is Zulu. The Zulu group speak their own language called isiZulu, this language is a Bantu language which is a official language in South Africa since more than half of the South African population are able to understand it. The population of South Africa also speak english, portuguese, Shangaan, sesotho.

Their clothing is very special. The zulus can wear normal cloths but also tribe clothing. For a male, the tribe clothing is in two parts, a front part and a rear part. The front part is called umutsha, and is made of a springbok. The rear part is is often made of the same springbok. The length on the front and rear part indicates their age, that older you are, that further down goes the parts. But they can have a lot of accessories, like when the males are married they have a headband which is called umqhele. If the males is in a higher rank, like a chief or just a higher social status he will wear a cow tail and a lot of other bracelets. The ladies dresses differently if they are married engaged or single. If the are single the only wears a short skirt, and if they are married they cover their body totally.

Some of the zulus are Christian and some are Catholic. But they also have their own zulu religion. The zulu believe on a creator god who is named Unkulunkulu. He is watching the zulus affairs for day to day. They also believe a ancestor spirit named Amatongo who had the power to intervene people's lives, good or ill.

sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu, http://www.drakensberg-tourism.com/zulu.html,