South Africa is segregated into nine different provinces. When the general election was held in 1994, the Bantustans (former homelands of South Africa) were reintegrated. The result was that the existing four provinces were further divided into nine sections. Today, each of these provinces carves a niche for its premier council, legislature, landscape, economy and population. The nine provinces are:
- The Free State
- The Eastern Cape
- KwaZulu-Natal
- Gauteng
- Mpumalanga
- Limpopo
- North West
- The Northern Cape
- The Western Cape
When it comes to land area, there are vast differences in the cover area of the provinces. For example, while Gauteng is noted for being the tiniest of all with an approximate land area of 16, 548km2, Northern Cape is noted for being a vast province with approximately 372,889km2 land area. Similarly, the number of people residing in the provinces too differs largely. For instance, though Gauteng is the smallest of all provinces, but is the most densely populated with around 12.27-million residents. On the other hand, Northern Cape though covers one third of the country’s land area, it is quite thinly populated and records an approximate population of 1.15-million.
Formerly the nine provinces were divided into 53 districts. However, with the implementation of 12th Amendment of the Constitution in 2005, December, the number was reduced to 52. These districts can either be categorized under district municipalities or under metropolitan and are basically referred to as the second level of administration.
Following is the list of Provinences, their population, capitals and largest cities:
| Province | Capital | Largest city | Area | Population (2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Cape | Bhisho (Bisho) | Port Elizabeth | 65,238 sq mi (168,966 km²) | 6,562,053 |
| Free State | Bloemfontein | Bloemfontein | 50,126 sq mi (129,825 km²) | 2,745,590 |
| Gauteng | Johannesburg | Johannesburg | 7,019 sq mi (18,178 km²) | 12,272,263 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | Pietermaritzburg | Durban | 36,433 sq mi (94,361 km²) | 10,267,300 |
| Limpopo | Polokwane(Pietersburg) | Polokwane | 48,554 sq mi (125,754 km²) | 5,404,868 |
| Mpumalanga | Mbombela (Nelspruit) | Mbombela | 29,535 sq mi (76,495 km²) | 4,039,939 |
| North West | Mahikeng (Mafikeng) | Klerksdorp | 40,495 sq mi (104,882 km²) | 3,509,953 |
| Northern Cape | Kimberley | Kimberley | 143,973 sq mi (372,889 km²) | 1,145,861 |
| Western Cape | Cape Town | Cape Town | 49,986 sq mi (129,462 km²) | 5,822,734 |
| Republic of South Africa | Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein | Johannesburg | 471,359 sq mi (1,220,813 km²) | 51,770,560 |