South Africa Culture Group Information from the CIA World Factbook: Ethnic groups: black African 79.2%, white 8.9%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5%, other 0.5% (2011 est.) Languages: IsiZulu (official) 22.7%, IsiXhosa (official) 16%, Afrikaans (official) 13.5%, English (official) 9.6%, Sepedi (official) 9.1%, Setswana (official) 8%, Sesotho (official) 7.6%, Xitsonga (official) 4.5%, siSwati (official) 2.5%, Tshivenda (official) 2.4%, isiNdebele (official) 2.1%, sign language 0.5%, other 1.6% (2011 est.) Religions: Protestant 36.6% (Zionist Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%), Catholic 7.1%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census) South Africa Language Number of Living Languages: 28 (13 institutional, 5 developing, 4 vigorous, 6 dying) National Languages: Afrikaans English Ndebele Northern Sotho Swati Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zulu Source: Ethnologue, retrieved 20 September, 2013, URL link: http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ZA 2 South Africa Language Top Three Most Commonly Spoken Languages: Afrikaans: According to the 2006 census, 4,740,000 people in South Africa speak Afrikaans. This is 9.75% of the South African population. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West. Primarily spoken: widespread throughout South Africa, but is primarily spoken in Eastern South Africa. English: According to the 2006 census, 3,670,000 people in South Africa speak English. This is 7.55% of the South African population. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West. Primarily spoken: clusters in the middle and along the coast of South Africa. Ndebele: According to the 2006 census, 640,000 people in South Africa speak the language of Ndebele. This is 1.3% of the South African population. Classification: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo. Primarily spoken: eastern South Africa Source: Ethnologue, retrieved 20 September, 2013, URL link: http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ZA 3 South Africa Language Two Least Spoken Languages: N|u: According to the 2005 cencus, there are only 12 people speaking this language as their first language in South Africa. That’s 0.000025% of the population that speaks this language. Nearly extinct. Spoken primarily in northern South Africa. Xiri: According to the 2000 cenus, Xiri as a first language has 87 speakers. This language is spoken by 0.00018% of the population. Nearly extinct. Primarily spoken in south-western South Africa in clusters along the coast. Tsotsitaal: This language is also nearly extinct, however it does not list the number of speakers in South Africa. Primarily spoken in the Johannesburg area, north-eastern South Africa. Source: Ethnologue, retrieved 20 September, 2013, URL link: http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ZA 4 The Ethnologue linguistic map was too grainy and pixelated to use in the slideshow. I found the above map with a google sea.

1. South Africa
Culture Group Information from the CIA World Factbook:
Ethnic groups:
black African 79.2%, white 8.9%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian
2.5%, other 0.5% (2011 est.)
Languages:
IsiZulu (official) 22.7%, IsiXhosa (official) 16%, Afrikaans
(official) 13.5%, English (official) 9.6%, Sepedi (official) 9.1%,
Setswana (official) 8%, Sesotho (official) 7.6%, Xitsonga
(official) 4.5%, siSwati (official) 2.5%, Tshivenda (official)
2.4%, isiNdebele (official) 2.1%, sign language 0.5%, other
1.6% (2011 est.)
Religions:
Protestant 36.6% (Zionist Christian 11.1%,
Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed
6.7%, Anglican 3.8%), Catholic 7.1%, Muslim 1.5%, other
Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001
census)
South Africa Language
Number of Living Languages: 28 (13 institutional, 5
developing, 4 vigorous, 6 dying)
National Languages:
Afrikaans
English
Ndebele
Northern Sotho
Swati

2. Tsonga
Tswana
Venda
Xhosa
Zulu
Source: Ethnologue, retrieved 20 September, 2013, URL link:
http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ZA
2
South Africa Language
Top Three Most Commonly Spoken Languages:
Afrikaans: According to the 2006 census, 4,740,000 people in
South Africa speak Afrikaans. This is 9.75% of the South
African population. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic,
West. Primarily spoken: widespread throughout South Africa,
but is primarily spoken in Eastern South Africa.
English: According to the 2006 census, 3,670,000 people in
South Africa speak English. This is 7.55% of the South African
population. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West.
Primarily spoken: clusters in the middle and along the coast of
South Africa.
Ndebele: According to the 2006 census, 640,000 people in
South Africa speak the language of Ndebele. This is 1.3% of the
South African population. Classification: Niger-Congo,
Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo. Primarily spoken: eastern South
Africa

3. Source: Ethnologue, retrieved 20 September, 2013, URL link:
http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ZA
3
South Africa Language
Two Least Spoken Languages:
N|u: According to the 2005 cencus, there are only 12 people
speaking this language as their first language in South Africa.
That’s 0.000025% of the population that speaks this language.
Nearly extinct. Spoken primarily in northern South Africa.
Xiri: According to the 2000 cenus, Xiri as a first language has
87 speakers. This language is spoken by 0.00018% of the
population. Nearly extinct. Primarily spoken in south-western
South Africa in clusters along the coast.
Tsotsitaal: This language is also nearly extinct, however it does
not list the number of speakers in South Africa. Primarily
spoken in the Johannesburg area, north-eastern South Africa.
Source: Ethnologue, retrieved 20 September, 2013, URL link:
http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ZA
4

4. The Ethnologue linguistic map was too grainy and pixelated to
use in the slideshow. I found the above map with a google
search.
Source: The Occidental Observer, retrieved 20 September, 2013,
URL link:
http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/authors/Kurtagic-
Deconstruction.html
5
South Africa Religion
There are approximately 78 different religions being practiced
in South Africa.
Christianity has 31,140,200 followers (64%) in South Africa.
This faith doesn’t list a connection to other faiths or branches
of a religion. Christianity includes many denominations, but is
its own religion stemming from the Abrahamic religions.
Hinduism has 634,912 (1.3%) followers. Hinduism is a
polytheistic religion originating in India.
Islam has 527,800 ((1.08%) followers. Islam is part of the
Abrahamic religion family but is its own religion.
No religious affiliation has 410,000 (0.84%) followers.
Judaism has 203,000 (0.41%) followers. Judaism represents its
own religion but is part of the Abrahamic religions.
Source: Adherents, retrieved 20 September, 2013, URL link:
http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_300.html
6

5. South Africa Religion and Language Summary
There were several cultural traits about South Africa that stood
out to me while I was building this presentation. I found it
interesting that despite the prevalence of English speaking
people in South Africa, the main language in the country is
Afrikaans spoken by around ten percent of the population.
Another fascinating fact about this country is that it possesses
eleven national languages. There are nine languages that are
almost extinct, dormant or extinct. It’s startling that languages
can over time become extinct as their speakers die out. I
struggled to find good information on religion in South Africa.
The Adherents website was frustrating to use and seemed
inaccurate, but I did find some good information about the
major religions in South Africa. I was not surprised to see that
the majority of people in South Africa are Christian since
Europeans colonized the country several hundred years ago.
The minority religions in South Africa include: Hinduism,
Islam, and Judaism.
7
Works Cited
Hunter, Preston. 2013. Adherents.com [Online database].
Retrieved 20 September 2013, from the World Wide Web:
http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/Wh_300.html
Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.).
2014. “South Africa.” Ethnologue: Languages of the World,
Seventeenth edition [Online version]. Dallas, Texas: SIL
International. Retrieved 20 September 2013, from the World
Wide Web: http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ZA
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. 2013. South Africa: People

6. and Society. In 2013 The World Factbook [Online database].
Retrieved 20 September 2013, from the World Wide Web:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/sf.html (retrieved 20 September 2013)
GGH110 Assignment #2
Park University
Fall 2014
Exploring the “Core Components” of Culture Groups:
For this activity, you will use the Ethnologue website
(www.ethnologue.com) and the Adherents website
(www.adherents.com) in order to explore the two major “core
components” (i.e., language and religion) of the cultures found
in the place you have chosen to research this semester.
Although some of the data in these resources may be relatively
"old" (which really just illustrates the great need for current and
sustained research in support of these languages and religions),
together they represent perhaps the most comprehensive
collection of information about the “core components” of the
distinctive culture groups found throughout the world today.
As we have recently discussed in this course, language is often
used as the most important "defining trait" of many culture
groups and the primary means by which they are identified.
Thus, exploring the linguistic diversity within a place is
arguably the primary starting point for gaining a sense of its
cultural diversity. In addition, understanding what the status is
of the languages that are spoken in a place is significant
because, as the Ethnologue states, “Since language is closely

7. linked to culture, loss of language almost always is
accompanied by social and cultural disruptions as well.”
Finally, studying the languages of a place through a
geolinguistics approach can also reveal a great deal about where
a group of people came from and with whom they have been in
contact. Therefore, most of this assignment will focus on
finding information from Ethnologue.
Before you begin this assignment, you should take some time to
become familiar with the array of information that is presented
for each country and its languages on the Ethnologue website. A
simple way of doing this is by going to its listing for the United
States at the country index page:
http://www.ethnologue.com/country_index.asp. Can you find
all of the answers to the following questions?
· How many total languages are given for the United States?
· How many languages are classified as “living”? How many
are “nearly extinct”? What seems to be the basis for classifying
a language as nearly extinct?
· Does the U.S. have an “official language”? If so, what is it?
· What is the language family/branch/group classification for
each language?
· What is the number of people who can speak each one? Where
are these speakers primarily located?
· What other linguistic trends and patterns catch your
attention? Notice that you can also see language maps that
show where the people who speak these languages live.
Now, go back to the county index page and find the page for the
country you have chosen to study for this class. Create a
PowerPoint presentation that includes the following content:
1) Slide #1:
a. Name of the country/place you are studying
b. Go to the CIA World Factbook page for the place you are
studying and gather and report the information about the Ethnic

8. groups, Languages, and Religions (these are all found in the
“People and Society” section).
c. .
2) Slide #2:
a. State the number of “living” languages that are listed for the
country
b. The name of any languages designated as a “national or
official language” for this country. If none, state that on your
slide.
c. The names of top 3 most commonly spoken languages in this
country
d. The total number of people who are estimated to speak each
of these languages, and the year that the estimate is from.
(Note: you should give the total for each language—not an
overall total for all 3)
e. Using the current estimated population that you obtained for
Assignment #1, calculate the percentage of the population in
this country/place that speaks each of these languages
f. The language family classification for each—i.e., language
family, language branch(es), language group(s). e.g., English is
classified as: “Indo-European, Germanic, West”
g. Identify the areas in the country/place where each language is
primarily spoken. (Note: Do not just list any specific places
that the listing might give, such as the name of a particular city
or territory. You should describe where this is in the country—
i.e., what is its relative location)
3) Slide #3:
a. The names of the 2 least spoken languages (i.e., those with at
least 1 known speaker)
b. The total number of people who are estimated to speak each
of these languages, and the year that the estimate is from
c. Using the current estimated population that you obtained for
Assignment #1, calculate the percentage of the population in
this country/place that speaks each of these languages
d. Is the language classified as "nearly extinct"? If so, state
that

9. e. Identify the areas in the country/place where each language is
primarily spoken
f. List any other languages that are also classified as “nearly
extinct” and give the last known number of known speakers for
each of them
4) Slide #4:
a. Copy any language maps given for your country and paste
them on this page. (Note: Most countries only have one map
given, but some may have multiple maps. If so, copy all of
them and do your best to resize them and arrange them neatly on
this one slide.)
b. Add a 50 word description of the patterns that you see
regarding the geography of the languages used in this place.
5) Slide #5:
a. Go to the Adeherents website index of religions sorted by
location: http://www.adherents.com/adhloc/indexWhere.html.
Find your country and review the various religions listed for it.
Count the total number of religions/denominations/sects that
reported by this website. NOTE: Do NOT rely on the total
number that is given next to your country’s name in the index.
This number is really the total number of entries given for the
country. Since some religions may have multiple entries (e.g.,
“Buddhism” may be listed several times, just with some
different data), you need to only count any
religion/denomination/sect that is listed once. Report this total
number on slide #5.
b. Based on the most recent total number of adherents reported
on this website, list the name of the top 5
religions/denominations/sects
c. For each of these faiths, include the following:
i. Total number of adherents last reported
ii. Using the current total population (from CIA World
Factbook), calculate the percentage of the population that this
would represent
iii. Using the information provided in the “Quotes/Notes”
column of the listing, indicate if this faith represents a

10. branch/denomination/sect of a religion (and if so, which one),
or if it is its own religion and what its connections to other
faiths are
6) Slide #6:
a. Write a 150-200 word evaluation of what you have learned
about the cultural diversity of this place based on the
information you have examined for this assignment. In
particular, you should compare and contrast the information you
found from the CIA World Factbook with the information that
you found from the Ethnologue and Adherents websites.
DUE by the deadline as announced in class.