Total population | |
---|---|
c. 2.8–3.5 million[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 2,710,461 (2011)[2] |
![]() | 92,400 (2003)[3] |
![]() | ≈41,000 (2006)[a] |
![]() | ≈40,000 (2006)[a] |
![]() | ≈20,000 (2010)[4] |
![]() | ≈13,000 (2006)[a] |
![]() | 5,079 (2011)[b] |
![]() | 2,895 (2020)[6] |
![]() | 1,197 (2013)[c] |
Languages | |
First language Afrikaans Second or third language | |
Religion | |
Mostly Reformed tradition (see Afrikaner Calvinism; specifically: Dutch Reformed • Dutch Reformed of Africa • Reformed • Afrikaans Protestant) • Protestantism • Roman Catholicism Minority Irreligion (Atheism, Agnosticism) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Afrikaners (Afrikaans: [afriˈkɑːnərs]) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.[8] Until 1994, they dominated South Africa's politics as well as the country's commercial agricultural sector.[9]
Afrikaans, a language primarily descended from Dutch, is the mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds.[9] According to the South African National Census of 2022, 10.6% of South Africans purport to speak Afrikaans as a first language at home, making it the third most widely spoken home language in the country.[10]
The arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama at Calicut, India, in 1498 opened a gateway of free access to Asia from Western Europe around the Cape of Good Hope. This access necessitated the founding and safeguarding of trade stations along the African and Asian coasts.[8] The Portuguese landed in Mossel Bay in 1498, explored Table Bay two years later, and by 1510 had started raiding inland.[11] Shortly afterwards, the Dutch Republic sent merchant vessels to India and, in 1602, founded the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC).[12] As the volume of traffic rounding the Cape increased, the VOC recognised its natural harbour as an ideal watering point for the long voyage around Africa to East Asia and established a victualling station there in 1652.[8] VOC officials did not favour the permanent settlement of Europeans in their trading empire, although during the 140 years of Dutch rule many VOC servants retired or were discharged and remained as private citizens.[12] Furthermore, the exigencies of supplying local garrisons and passing fleets compelled the administration to confer free status on employees and oblige them to become independent farmers.[13]
Encouraged by the success of this experiment, the company extended free passage from 1685 to 1707 for Dutch families wishing to settle at the Cape.[13] In 1688, it sponsored the settlement of 200 French Huguenot refugees forced into exile by the Edict of Fontainebleau.[14] The terms under which the Huguenots agreed to immigrate were the same as those offered to other VOC subjects, including free passage and the requisite farm equipment on credit. Prior attempts at cultivating vineyards or exploiting olive groves for fruit had been unsuccessful, and it was hoped that Huguenot colonists accustomed to Mediterranean agriculture could succeed where the Dutch had failed.[15] They were augmented by VOC soldiers returning from Asia, predominantly Germans channeled into Amsterdam by the company's extensive recruitment network and thence overseas.[16][17] Despite their diverse nationalities, the colonists used a common language and adopted similar attitudes towards politics.[18] The attributes they shared served as a basis for the evolution of Afrikaner identity and consciousness.[19]
In the twentieth century, Afrikaner nationalism took the form of political parties and closed societies, such as the Broederbond. In 1914, the National Party was founded to promote Afrikaner interests.[8] It gained power by winning South Africa's 1948 general elections.[20] The party was noted for implementing a harsh policy of racial segregation (apartheid) and declaring South Africa a republic in 1961.[8] Following decades of domestic unrest and international sanctions that resulted in bilateral and multi-party negotiations to end apartheid, South Africa held its first multiracial elections under a universal franchise in 1994.[21] As a result of this election the National Party was ousted from power, and was eventually dissolved in 2005.[20]
Census 2011
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