Diversity is a key feature of South Africa, where 11 languages are recognised as official, where community leaders include rabbis and chieftains, rugby players and returned exiles, where traditional healers ply their trade around the corner from stockbrokers and where housing ranges from mud huts to palatial homes with swimming pools.

The diverse communities, however, have not had much representation for long.

Until 1994 South Africa was ruled by a white minority government which was so determined to hang onto power that it took activists most of the last century before they succeeded in their fight to get rid of apartheid and extend democracy to the rest of the population.

The white government which came to power in 1948 enforced a separation of races with its policy called apartheid. It dictated that black and white communities should live in separate areas, travel in different buses and stand in their own queues.

The government introduced grand social engineering schemes such as the forced resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people. It poisoned and bombed opponents and encouraged trouble in neighbouring countries.

The apartheid government eventually negotiated itself out of power, and the new leadership encouraged reconciliation. But the cost of the years of conflict will be paid for a long time yet, not least in terms of lawlessness, social disruption and lost education.

South Africa faces major problems, but having held three successful national elections as well as local polls since the end of white rule, a democratic culture appears to be taking hold, allowing people at least some say in the search for solutions.

Very much Africa's superpower, South Africa has the continent's biggest economy, with strong financial and manufacturing sectors. It is a leading exporter of minerals and tourism is a key source of foreign exchange. But many South Africans remain poor and unemployment is high.

Land redistribution is an ongoing issue. Most farmland is still white-owned. Having so far acquired land on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis, officials have signalled that large-scale expropriations are on the cards. The government aims to transfer 30% of farmland to black South Africans by 2014.

South Africa has the second-highest number of HIV/Aids patients in the world. Around one in seven of its citizens is infected with HIV. Free anti-retroviral drugs are available under a state-funded scheme.

Thabo Mbeki was elected by parliament to a second five-year term in April 2004 following the landslide general election victory of his governing African National Congress (ANC).

Mr Mbeki became president when Nelson Mandela stepped down in mid-1999, but he is considered to have effectively ruled the country since the formation of South Africa's first democratically elected government in April 1994.

Mr Mbeki had a central role both in planning the armed insurrection that caused the first cracks in the edifice of white rule and in the talks that led to its end.

The president has mediated in African conflicts, including those in Ivory Coast, Burundi and DR Congo. At home, his main challenge has been to improve the lot of ordinary South Africans. The delivery of basic services - including water, electricity and sewerage - is a key concern.

Mr Mbeki has been criticised for questioning the link between HIV and Aids and for not joining the West in condemning land invasions in Zimbabwe.

Thabo Mbeki was born in 1942 into one of the leading families of black politics and was involved in the struggle against apartheid from an early age. His father, Govan, was a leading light in the South African Communist Party.

South African presidents are chosen by the 400 members of the directly-elected National Assembly, one of the two houses of parliament. The National Council of Provinces is the other house; it aims to make sure that the interests of South Africa's nine provinces are represented at a national level.

Although more than a dozen parties are represented in parliament, the ruling ANC has been the main player in South African politics since 1994. Its rivals include the Democratic Alliance (DA), the biggest opposition party, and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which has a predominantly-Zulu power base.

South Africa is the continent's major media player, and its many broadcasters and publications reflect the diversity of the population.

Established state-run and commercial TV networks broadcast nationally, and hundreds of thousands of viewers subscribe to satellite and cable pay-TV services.

Deregulation in 1996 led to a proliferation of radio stations. Listeners in Johannesburg alone can choose from among some 40 radio services, from the national broadcasts of the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to community stations targeting local neighbourhoods or ethnic groups.

The constitution provides for freedom of the press, and this is generally respected. Laws, regulation and political control of media content are considered to be moderate and there is little evidence of repressive measures against journalists.

Newspapers and magazines publish reports and comment critical of the government and the state-owned SABC is far more independent now than during the apartheid era.

The press