South Africa

State · 1932–2026 CE · at its largest around 1932 CE

A self-governing union formed in 1910 from four British colonies, which became a republic in 1961. From 1948 the National Party enforced apartheid until majority-rule elections in 1994 brought Nelson Mandela to power.

On its lands while it lasted

Nelson Mandela (1918 CE – 2013 CE): Anti-apartheid leader imprisoned for 27 years who became South Africa's first Black president in 1994 and shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
Desmond Tutu (1931 CE – 2021 CE): Anglican archbishop and anti-apartheid campaigner awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize; chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Steve Biko (1946 CE – 1977 CE): Leader of the Black Consciousness Movement who died of injuries sustained in police custody in 1977.
Apartheid (1948–1994 CE): System of institutionalised racial segregation and white minority rule introduced by the National Party government of South Africa in 1948 and dismantled in the early 1990s.
Sharpeville massacre (1960 CE): South African police opened fire on a crowd protesting pass laws on 21 March 1960, killing 69 people; the ANC and PAC were banned soon after.
Rhodesian Bush War (1964–1979 CE): Guerrilla war against Rhodesia's white minority government, which led to majority rule and the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980.
Gaborone (1965 CE): Capital of Republic of Botswana (1967–today).
First human heart transplant (1967 CE): Surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the first human-to-human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town on 3 December 1967.
Lobamba (c. 1969 CE): Capital of Eswatini (1969–today).
Soweto uprising (1976 CE): Protests by Black schoolchildren against Afrikaans-medium instruction, beginning on 16 June 1976, were met with police gunfire that killed at least 176 people.
Release of Nelson Mandela (1990 CE): Nelson Mandela walked free from Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990 after 27 years in prison, opening negotiations to end apartheid.
1994 South African general election (1994 CE): South Africa's first election with universal suffrage, held in April 1994, which ended apartheid and brought Nelson Mandela to the presidency.