State · 1961 – present

South Africa

A state of 1961 – present — 65 years, still standing in sub-Saharan Africa. It replaced Union of South Africa and History of South Africa. The atlas records 19 things within it — wars and battles 1 · unrest and atrocity 6 · famine and plague 1 · natural disasters 1 · treaties 3 · people 7. Its line of rulers holds 6 people.

Still standing: the span runs to the year of the build, 2026.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood: 65 years; and still standing
Rulers: 6; the President of South Africa
Most ground: 2.06 million km²; in 1932
Within it: 19; recorded rows
Symbols: 8; on record, with years

Map: South Africa in 1932, its borders in gold among its neighbours — South Africa in 1932, when it held the most ground the borders dataset draws for it: 2.06 million km². Its neighbours wear their tints, as on the atlas's own map. Borders from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0), coast and rivers from Natural Earth, cities from Reba, Reitsma & Seto 2016 (CC BY 4.0), each city under the name it bore that year.

South Africa in 1932, at its largest — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

South Africa in 1990, last mapped — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Where it sits in time

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.

Before and after

The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.

Before it

Union of South Africa · replaces · 1910 – 1961
History of South Africa · replaces · 1948 – 1994

Rulers

The line of President of South Africa - the office this state names as its head of state.

left alive by a regular roadstill in officea second row: a reign that began before the last had ended — rival claimants, or a shared throne

Ruler	Reign	Length	How it ended · source
Nelson Mandela	1994 – 1999	5 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Thabo Mbeki	1999 – 2008	9 years	lost an election, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri	2005 – 2005	under a year	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri	2008 – 2008	under a year	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Kgalema Motlanthe	2008 – 2009	1 year	resigned or stood down, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
Jacob Zuma	2009 – 2018	9 years	resigned or stood down, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
Cyril Ramaphosa	2018 – in office	in office since 2018	still in office

6 rulers, 6 with terms dated as terms, covering 1994 – 2018. Only 24 years of the line are dated - too short for a median. 1 of 6 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. The violent-handover count is withheld: power changed hands so often that any rising falls beside one (exposure 0.96, limit 0.6). A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

Ground held, by year

km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.

2.06 million km² in 1961, 1.23 million km² in 2021; at its largest 2.06 million km² in 1961. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.

Flags and arms, in order

Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.

coat of arms, 1910 – 1930Coat of arms of South Africa (1910–1930) · Public domain
flag, 1910 – 1912Red Ensign of South Africa (1910–1912) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fornax , Zscout370
flag, 1912 – 1928Red Ensign of South Africa (1912–1951) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fornax
flag, 1928 – 1994Flag of South Africa (1928–1994, dark colors) · Public domain
coat of arms, 1930 – 1932Coat of arms of South Africa (1930–1932) · Public domain
coat of arms, 1932 – 2000Coat of arms of South Africa (1932–2000) · Public domain
flag, from 1994Flag of South Africa · Public domain
coat of arms, from 2000Coat of arms of South Africa (heraldic) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Echando una mano

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

1900 – 199913 rows · 1 wars and battles · 3 risings, regime changes and massacres

Nelson Mandela · ruler · 1918 – 2013
Thabo Mbeki · ruler · 1942 – present
Jacob Zuma · ruler · 1942 – present
Cyril Ramaphosa · ruler · 1952 – present
Kgalema Motlanthe · ruler · 1949 – present
Soweto uprising · atrocity · 1976
Julius Malema · politician · 1981 – present
South African Border War · war · 1966 – 1990

and 5 more in the atlas.

2000 – 20996 rows · 3 risings, regime changes and massacres

Marikana massacre · atrocity · 2012
COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa · plague · 2020
2021 South African unrest · unrest · 2021
2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods · disaster · 2022
Cape Town Treaty · treaty · 2001
FeesMustFall · unrest · 2015

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

How long it stood65 years
stood longer than 38% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
The most ground it held2,064,600 km²
held more ground at its peak than 91% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
Wars recorded per century1.0
had more wars on record per century than 94% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
Rulers on record6
has more rulers on record than 69% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

What led to it, and what came of it

The investigation's own picture: 39 causes the record names and 0 results, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.

linkedcoincidence

Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.

Open in the atlas

On the timeline, 1951 – 2036, with everything that stood beside it.
On the map in 1932, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.

Wikidata Q258 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.