South Africa
South Africa is one of the 193 UN member states, in Southern Africa. UN Tourism counted 14.8 million international arrivals there in 2019, more visited than 83% of the 199 places with figures, so its stamp in Globestamp is printed in Foil.
- International arrivals
- 14.8 millionin 2019, UN Tourism
- Rank by visitors
- 34th of 199most visited first
- Stamp finish
- Foilrarer than 17%
- Area
- 1,281,731 km² (494,879 sq mi)
- Population
- 58.6 millionNatural Earth estimate
- Provinces
- 9in Globestamp’s regions layer
- Airports
- 22with scheduled flights
- World Heritage Sites
- 11on Globestamp’s list
Does South Africa count as a country?
Yes. South Africa is one of the 193 UN member states, so every common list counts it: the UN’s 193, Globestamp’s 250 and the Travelers’ Century Club’s 330.
| List | Counts South Africa? |
|---|---|
| UN member states (193) | Yes, a member |
| Globestamp’s countries and territories (250) | Yes |
| Travelers’ Century Club (330) | Yes, as South Africa |
| European Union | No |
| Schengen area | No |
The South Africa stamp
Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. South Africa’s is Foil: a hot-stamped foil block in the ink’s own colour, the finish for places with 6 to 15 million visitors a year. With 14.8 million international arrivals in 2019, South Africa is more visited than 83% of the 199 places with figures. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.
What counts as a visit to South Africa
The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts South Africa when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. Photos only at an airport make a transit stamp in lighter ink, counted only if you count layovers. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.
Places in South Africa you can collect
Under the country itself, Globestamp keeps layers of places on your globe, and a photo taken at one ticks it. These are the ones it knows in South Africa, from 11 World Heritage Sites to 2 volcanoes.
World Heritage Sites 11
Robben Island (1999) · Vredefort crater (2005) · Cradle of Humankind (1999) · Cape Floristic Kingdom (2004) · Richtersveld (2007) · iSimangaliso Wetland Park (1999) · Makhonjwa Mountains (2018) · Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape (2003) · Khomani Cultural Landscape (2017) · Human Rights, Liberation and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites (2024) and 1 more. On the bucket list →
National parks 4
Kruger National Park · Addo Elephant National Park · Augrabies Falls National Park · Mountain Zebra National Park. On the bucket list →
Famous landmarks 2
Cape of Good Hope · Table Mountain. On the bucket list →
Volcanoes 2
Marion Island · Mascarin Peak. On the bucket list →
Ski resorts 1
Tiffindell Ski Resort. On the bucket list →
Wine regions 18
Stellenbosch · Paarl · Franschhoek · Constantia · Groot Constantia · Vergelegen and 12 more. On the bucket list →
Theme parks 2
Gold Reef City · uShaka Marine World. On the bucket list →
Zoos and aquariums 12
National Zoological Garden of South Africa · Two Oceans Aquarium · Johannesburg Zoo · Birds of Eden and 8 more. On the bucket list →
Botanical gardens 19
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden · Durban Botanic Gardens · Pretoria National Botanical Garden · Hantam National Botanical Garden and 15 more. On the bucket list →
Science museums and planetariums 2
Johannesburg Planetarium · MTN Sciencentre. On the bucket list →
Largest cities
| City | People (urban area) |
|---|---|
| Johannesburg | 3,435,000 |
| Cape Town | 3,215,000 |
| Benoni | 2,986,000 |
| Durban | 2,729,000 |
| Pretoria | 1,338,000 |
| Vereeniging | 1,074,000 |
| Port Elizabeth | 1,021,000 |
| Pietermaritzburg | 750,845 |
Airports
South Africa has 22 airports with scheduled flights, 11 of them large. Each is a dot on Globestamp’s airports layer, and every flight you log adds to how far you’ve flown (try the flight distance calculator).
9 provinces to fill in
Globestamp goes deeper than countries: its regions layer splits South Africa into 9 provinces (Natural Earth’s first-level divisions), and each one fills in when a photo was taken there.
All 9
Eastern Cape · Free State · Gauteng · KwaZulu-Natal · Limpopo · Mpumalanga · North West · Northern Cape · Western Cape
Questions people ask
Is South Africa a country?
Yes. South Africa is one of the 193 UN member states, so every common list counts it: the UN’s 193, Globestamp’s 250 and the Travelers’ Century Club’s 330.
How many tourists visit South Africa a year?
UN Tourism (via the World Bank) counted 14,797,000 international arrivals in South Africa in 2019, the 34th most of the 199 places with figures. Countries count arrivals in different ways (some include day-trippers and cruise passengers), so treat it as a rough rank rather than an exact number of tourists.
How rare is a South Africa stamp in Globestamp?
It is printed in Foil, the finish for places with 6 to 15 million visitors a year, rarer than 17% of the places with figures. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.
Does South Africa count for the Travelers’ Century Club?
Yes. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “South Africa”, one of its 330 destinations.
Places as rare as South Africa
Near South Africa
Sources
- Countries, cities and regions: Natural Earth 10m admin-0 (public domain); lists as of October 2026.
- Visitors: UN Tourism via the World Bank, ST.INT.ARVL (International tourism, number of arrivals), CC BY 4.0, data updated 2026-10-08. Each country's latest year before 2020. Countries count visitors differently; use as a rough rank.
- World Heritage Sites, parks, landmarks and the bucket-list places: Wikidata (CC0), as compiled in the app, October 2026.
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain), airports with scheduled service.
- Travelers’ Century Club: the club’s list of 330 destinations, as of January 2022.