Since the election of 27 April 1994, South Africa has been divided into nine provinces. They vary widely in size, from the Northern Cape, which covers nearly one-third of the country's land area, to Gauteng, which takes up a mere 1.5%.
| Rank | Province | Area (km2)[1] | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Cape | 372,889 | 30.5 |
| 2 | Eastern Cape | 168,966 | 13.8 |
| 3 | Free State | 129,825 | 10.6 |
| 4 | Western Cape | 129,462 | 10.6 |
| 5 | Limpopo | 125,755 | 10.2 |
| 6 | North West | 104,882 | 8.6 |
| 7 | KwaZulu-Natal | 94,361 | 7.7 |
| 8 | Mpumalanga | 76,495 | 6.3 |
| 9 | Gauteng | 18,178 | 1.5 |
| South Africa | 1,220,813 | 100.0 | |
The Prince Edward Islands, which are considered part of the Western Cape for legal purposes but are administered by the national Department of Environmental Affairs, are not included in this table; they have surface areas of 290 km2 (Marion Island) and 45 km2 (Prince Edward Island).[2]
- ^ Stats in brief, 2009 (PDF). Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. 2009. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-621-38774-2. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
- ^ Cooper, John (June 2006). "Antarctica and Islands: Background Research Paper produced for the South Africa Environment Outlook report on behalf of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism" (PDF). p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2011.