Introduction: Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of modern day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902); however, the British and the Afrikaners, as the Boers became known, ruled...

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Foreign Policy: South Africa is the economic and political powerhouse of southern Africa and plays a leading role in Africa's regional and international agendas, including through the African Union, the New Partnership for African Development and the Southern African Development Community. In 1994, following the end of the apartheid era, South Africa resumed its seat in the UN General Assembly, rejoined the Commonwealth, and became an active and leading member of the Non-Aligned Movement. South Africa began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in January 2007.

South Africa has been important in ...

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