The Cape

The Commonwealth Realm of the Cape of Good Hope and Natal known simply as The Cape or The Cape-Natal is the southernmost country on the African continent. It is bounded to the south by the Indian Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by Namibia and Lesotho and to the north and east by South Africa. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. The Cape is the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa where the Sub-Saharan Africans are not the majority of the population. 49% identifies as Sub-Saharan African, 29% identifying as Coloured, 17% identifying as white, and 3% identifying as Asian. While English is the only official language of The Cape, Afrikaans, Xhosa, and Zulu are all protected as national languages.

The Cape has become a model country in Africa, with the highest Human Development Index in continental Sub-Saharan Africa and the third highest GDP Per Capita in continental Sub-Saharan Africa. The country is one of the few in Africa to never experience a coup d'etat and elections have been held for over a century. The Cape has traditionally been more liberal than it's neighboring South Africa, which played a major role in the end of restrictions of blacks in the Cape. During the 1950's and 1960's, the white-dominated government began loosening restrictions on voting rights by lowering the requirements in the Cape Qualified Franchise and mandating required education for all Capetians. By 1975, universal suffrage was enacted after winning in a referendum. As a result of the absence of strong racial policies and political turmoil, The Cape has become a prime location for investment in Southern Africa, surpassing the GDP Per Capita of South Africa by nearly $4,000.

The World Bank classifies The Cape as a upper-middle-income economy, and the country is one of the largest banking and industrial centers in Africa. However, around 10% of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, something that the government has worked hard in recent years to try and reduce. Nevertheless, The Cape is identifies as a Middle Power on the international stage.