At the southernmost tip of the African continent, there is a very "strange" country: South Africa.
This country was once the only developed country in Africa, and it can even be said that it is quasi-developed.
But today, they are a poor country and are known as one of the least secure countries in the world.
What's going on here?
Rainbow Country: South Africa
Speaking of South Africa, in fact, many of us are very unfamiliar with it, and we don't know where it is and what kind of customs it has.
South Africa is located in the southern hemisphere, at the southernmost tip of the African continent, and its three directions, southeast and west, are tightly surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
In this country, we can see people of all colors, white, black, even mixed-race and Asian, and there is nothing wrong with it here.
Because of this, South Africa is also known as the "Rainbow Country", which means that there are so many different races of people like the colors of the rainbow.
This is actually due to the fact that South Africa was once a colony of several countries.
According to history, South Africa was once a colony of the Dutch, Portuguese, or British, but after World War II, they managed to become independent.
In the minds of many people, some countries in Africa should be very poor and have very hot climates.
However, this was not the case in South Africa in the past, and it even became the "pride" of Africans for a time.
South Africa is located in the southernmost part of the southern hemisphere, and the climate of this country is not so hot compared to other African countries, but the temperature is suitable, which is actually the reason why European colonizers came here, after all, it is difficult for other African countries to adapt.
In the sixties and seventies of the last century, South Africa's economic development was very rapid, whether it was industrial or military, this humble small country should not be underestimated.
And the main reason for this is that there are very rich resources here.
It can be said that South Africa is also a country favored by God, and there are more than 70 kinds of minerals that have been discovered and mined in their country, such as gold, diamonds, coal, etc.
The abundance of diamonds here is something that many people know about.
Not only that, the arable land area here is also very large, and their agricultural development and fishery development are very unique.
And this also brought them a very large space for economic development, their per capita GDP was as high as 2,400 US dollars, which had reached the level of developed countries at that time.
In some military fields, they are among the top 10 arms dealers in the world, and they can also produce most of the modern weapons themselves.
In the 70s of the last century, they were able to produce nuclear weapons on their own, and they also built up their own nuclear arsenal
What's even more incredible is that this country has successfully performed the world's first heart transplant in the 80s of the last century, which is enough to see that they are "far ahead" in various fields.
However, now, their economic situation is simply "very different" from before.
The fastest regressive country in the world
"Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi. ”
This phrase is very accurate to describe South Africa.
It is no exaggeration to say that it did not even take 30 years for South Africa to go from a very developed and rich country to a destitute country in just five years.
This is a direct break of the world record, you know, Myanmar took 50 years to regress, and Ila is 40 years, like this single-digit regression time, South Africa is really the only one in the world.
Now, the per capita income of people in South Africa is less than 71% of the world's per capita income.
Schusler, an economist in South Africa, also said that South Africans now rank 107th out of 191 countries in terms of GDP per capita.
That is, they have entered the ranks of the poor countries of the world.
And there are actually very complex reasons behind them becoming like this.
Before World War II, the leadership of South Africa was in the hands of the whites, who made the most of the value of the land and used it wisely.
They have built a very complete industrial system here, which is actually part of the reason for the rapid development of the South African economy.
But the lives of blacks in South Africa are the opposite of those of whites, they do not have rich money, but are subject to others.
It wasn't until the advent of Nelson Mandela that this situation changed, and this is part of the reason for South Africa's gradual decline.
After Mandela became the leader of South Africa, he directly occupied various properties of the original white people, but Mandela did not receive a good education, and he did not know anything about economics.
At the instigation of the United States, he very consciously handed over his country's nuclear weapons.
You must know that after a country loses its nuclear weapons, it has actually lost a very important voice in the international community, and South Africa is such an existence.
I thought that it would be good to enjoy the shade with my back against a big tree, and I would be able to gain trust after surrendering my weapons, but in fact, this was the beginning of their country's "end".
After that, some cheap goods from Europe and the United States began to enter the South African market, which caused a very big blow to their local commercial products.
Gradually, even South Africa's banks became "in the bag" of other countries, and South Africa became a "lamb to the slaughter", and finally ended up with nothing.
In this way, in just five years, this originally developed country has become a poor country.
After the economic backwardness, the security here is even more "indescribable".
Worst law and order
In South Africa, the national unemployment rate is as high as 30 percent, and the youth unemployment rate is as high as 60 percent.
This means that there are millions of young people in South Africa who spend their days doing nothing, either wandering the streets or going home to be paralyzed.
Without a job, they have no source of income, and in order to solve their own lives, street robbery has become a method of "getting money" for many people.
Not only that, but the number of guns in this country is even more numerous, which is also a reason for the poor local security, shootings, robberies and other things happen here every day.
It is also because people are basically equipped with guns, so many people even have to install bulletproof equipment on their cars when they go out, otherwise, they will not be able to ensure their safety.
It can be said that now South Africa, their reputation in the world is very bad, whether it is day or night, robbery is not uncommon, people's lives are not well guaranteed at all.
In fact, if you look back at the development process of South Africa, it is really embarrassing.
They originally belonged to the type of God chasing after food, but they played a good hand of cards to a mess, and finally became what they are now.
Information sources:
China.com Military, "Where is South Africa's Development Going under the New African Strategy" 2023-06-26
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of ChinaSouth Africa Country Profile