![]() Proportion of White South Africans in each municipality according to the census | |
Total population | |
---|---|
![]() ![]() | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Throughout South Africa, but mostly concentrated in urban areas. Population by provinces, as of the 2022 census: | |
Gauteng | 1,509,800 |
Western Cape | 1,217,807 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 513,377 |
Eastern Cape | 403,061 |
Free State | 235,915 |
Mpumalanga | 185,731 |
North West | 171,887 |
Limpopo | 167,524 |
Northern Cape | 99,150 |
Languages | |
Afrikaans (57.9%) · English (40.2%) | |
Religion | |
Majority: Christianity (85.6%) Minority: Irreligion (8.9%) · Other (4.6%) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
White Zimbabweans, White Namibians, Afrikaners, French Huguenots, Germans, Coloureds, British diaspora in Africa, South African diaspora, other White Africans |
White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afrikaners, and the Anglophone descendants of predominantly British colonists of South Africa. In 2016, 57.9% were native Afrikaans speakers, 40.2% were native English speakers, and 1.9% spoke another language as their mother tongue,[2][3] such as Portuguese, Greek, or German. White South Africans are by far the largest population of White Africans. White was a legally defined racial classification during apartheid.[4]
Most Afrikaners trace their ancestry back to colonists in the mid-17th century and have developed a separate cultural identity, including a distinct language. These colonists included Huguenots who emigrated from France (see Huguenots in South Africa) and Walloons who emigrated from present-day Belgium.
The majority of English-speaking White South Africans trace their ancestry to the 1820 British, Irish, and Dutch colonists. The remainder of the White South African population consists of later immigrants from Europe such as Greeks and Norwegians. Portuguese immigrants arrived after the collapse of the Portuguese colonial administrations in Angola and Mozambique, although many also originate from Madeira.[5][6][7]
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