The Sotho: Eight million Sotho speakers can be divided broadly into the North Sotho, the South Sotho and the Tswana.
The North Sotho are based in the Northern Province, and groups include the Pedi, Pulana, Pai, Kutswe, amongst others.
The South Sotho comprises the Phokeng, Tlokwa, Kwena, Phetla, Phuti and Pulana groups. The South Sotho live in the kingdom of Lethoto and the Free State.
In South Africa the Tswanas live in the North West province and Gauteng. They are ethnically the same as the population of Botswana. The tribe was cut in half by a colonial border between the Transvall and Botswana, then known as Bechuanaland.
The White South Africans
Afrikaans speakers: approximately 58 % of whites are Afrikaans-speaking, having been in the country for fifteen generations. Afrikaans is also the mother tongue of the coloured community.
Afrikaners are basically of Dutch descent but many have French names derived from the Hugenot refugees of the 17th century. 3.8 % of the population are of other genetic and cultural elements derived from German, Scottish, English and Portugese sources.
English speakers: Approximately 39 % of the 5 million whites in South Africa use English as thier mother tongue.
The first British occupation of the Cape in 1795 established a small English-speaking community, which was boosted in 1820 by the arrival of the settlers brought in to create a buffer zone on the eastern frontier. The discovery of mineral wealth in the mid-19th century brought many more English speakers to the interior and there was a large-scale immigration from Europe following the Second World War.
Other: There is a Portugese-speaking community of more than 500,000 which was boosted by the collapse of Portugal's colonies in Angola and Mozambique. There are also immigrants from many European countries, including Holland, Germany, France, Belgium, etc. The Chinese have become a small group of growing importance, and a prominent Jewish community has made an impact on all spheres of South African life.
