Geography edit
Afrikaners originated in the Dutch Cape Colony (after 1806, the British Cape Colony) and thus their present-day numbers are concentrated in South Africa. Afrikaners also have a significant presence in Namibia due to the country's long political administration by and de facto incorporation into South Africa between 1915 and 1990.
An Afrikaner diaspora has developed since the end of the South African white minority government in 1994. Emigrants have settled predominantly in English-speaking countries, with their largest concentrations in Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa edit
The South African National Census of 2011 shows the greatest geographic concentration of Afrikaners is in the City of Tshwane, particularly Pretoria and Centurion.[1] At the time of the census, over 331,000 residents of Pretoria spoke Afrikaans as their first language and the city was majority (52%) white. In nearby Centurion (formerly Verwoerdburg), also majority white (59%), 115,000 residents spoke Afrikaans as their first language.[2] In 2022, 20 Afrikaans-medium secondary schools and another 6 dual- or parallel-medium (Afrikaans and English) secondary schools existed in Pretoria and Centurion graduating 4,515 students.[3]
Significant concentrations of Afrikaners also exist in the East Rand/City of Ekurhuleni, the West Rand, the Vaal Triangle, Cape Town (especially the northern suburbs around Bellville and Strand in the Helderberg), and Bloemfontein.
Namibia edit
The chief site of Afrikaner settlement in Namibia is the country's capital city, Windhoek. Afrikaners are concentrated in the sections of the city east of the Western Bypass road, areas historically reserved for whites prior to the end of legal residential apartheid in 1977.[4] In the 2011 Namibian Census, 29,717 residents spoke Afrikaans in the constituencies of Windhoek East and Windhoek West combined,[5] both located for the most part east of the Western Bypass.[6] This is a fair estimate of the size of the Afrikaner resident population in the city at that time.
Smaller concentrations of Afrikaners exist in the coastal Namibian cities of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, the later an exclave of South Africa until 1994.
Botswana edit
Botswana has a small group of Afrikaners historically concentrated in the Ghanzi area, as well more recent arrivals as in the Kgalagadi District along the country's southwest border with South Africa. Afrikaners have lived in the Ghanzi area since 1898 when the British South Africa Company offered land to settlers who moved to the region.[7] According to the 2001 Botswana Census, 6,750 residents of the country spoke Afrikaans at home making up 0.4% of the total population. As some unknown number of those counted were Coloured, the number of Afrikaners in Botswana is some degree less than the stated census figure.[8]
Afrikaner diaspora edit
White South Africans began emigrating in significant numbers in the mid-1970s in the wake of the Soweto uprising and again in the mid-1980s after the 1985 declaration of the state of emergency and the intensification of the South African Border War. These early waves were overwhelmingly Anglo in character, however. Not until the early 1990s, during the transition period out of apartheid and white minority rule, did Afrikaners begin leaving the country.[9] Statistics South Africa estimated a net 304,112 white residents left the country over the years 1986-2000 with another 341,000 over the period 2001-2016.[10] This emigration is the source of a notable Afrikaner diaspora today.
Australia and New Zealand edit
Outside South Africa and Namibia, the largest population of Afrikaners resides in Australia and New Zealand. According to the 2021 Australian census, 49,375 residents spoke Afrikaans at home.[11] While not all of those are Afrikaners, they are likely the overwhelming majority. In 2018, 36,966 residents of New Zealand spoke Afrikaans.[12]
The largest geographic concentration of Afrikaners outside Africa is likely Auckland, New Zealand. In 2018, 1.1% of all Auckland region residents spoke Afrikaans, or roughly 16,980 people.[13] The North Shore is a site of notable Afrikaner settlement, especially Browns Bay and the surrounding suburbs. East Auckland is a secondary site, especially Howick.[14]
A second major overseas concentration is Greater Perth, Australia. In 2021, 0.6% of the population of Western Australia's capital and its environs, or 11,870 persons, spoke Afrikaans.[15] The city's northwest suburbs, particularly the City of Wanneroo and City of Joondalup, have the highest concentrations of Afrikaans-speakers.[16] The South African, and especially Afrikaans-speaking, community is so large there that South Africans have nicknamed the city "Perthfontein" and "Bloemfontein by the sea".[17]
North America edit
Over the period 2009-13, the American Community Survey recorded 23,010 Afrikaans-speakers age 5 and over in the United States. The Atlanta metropolitan area had the highest concentration with 1,900 speakers.[18]
According to the 2021 Canadian Census, 14,665 residents of Canada spoke Afrikaans. The largest concentration was in the Vancouver metropolitan area at 1,860 persons.[19]
The United Kingdom edit
While the United Kingdom is the leading destination for white South African emigrants, very few Afrikaners move to the country. In England and Wales in 2021, over 217,000 residents were born in South Africa but only 7,489 spoke Afrikaans as their main language.[20]
Other edit
Since the early 1990s the country of Georgia has attracted a small number of Afrikaner farmers to help revive its agricultural sector.[21]
- ^ Rawlings, Alex (14 May 2020). "Is Afrikaans in danger of dying out?". BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ Frith, Adrian. "Census 2011". Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ National Senior Certificate (NSC) School Performance Report 2022 (PDF). Pretoria: Department of Basic Education. 2023. pp. 81–88. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Rowland, Stephanie (2023). "The Uncanny Capital: Mapping the Historical Spatial Evolution of Windhoek". Urban Forum. doi:10.1007/s12132-023-09484-0. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Atlas of Namibia. Namibia Nature Foundation. 2022. p. Map data, Figure 09_14 Distribution of major languages.
- ^ "Namibia Constituency Boundaries 2014". Namibia GeoPortal. Africa GeoPortal. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Russell, Martin (1979). Afrikaners of the Kalahari.
- ^ Chebanne, Andy (2016). "Found and Lost Languages: A Survey of the Past and Current Situation of Botswana Ethic and Linguistic Communities". Botswana Notes and Records. 48 (special): 160–175. doi:10.2307/90025334. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ^ Louw, Eric (2001). "Packing for Perth: The Growth of a Southern African Diaspora". Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. 10 (2): 303–333. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Mid-year population estimates 2015 (PDF). Pretoria: Statistics South Africa. 23 July 2015. p. 4. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
- ^ "Cultural Diversity: Census". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ "Languages spoken (total responses) and birthplace (broad geographic areas) by age group and sex, for the census usually resident population count, 2006, 2013, and 2018 Censuses (RC, TA, DHB) Information on table". NZ.Stat. Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ "People who can speak Afrikaans in New Zealand". figure.nz. Figure NZ Trust. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ van Rooyen, Johann (2000). The New Great Trek: The Story of South Africa's White Exodus. Pretoria: Unisa Press. p. 148.
- ^ "Greater Perth: Language spoken at home". .id community. .id consulting pty ltd. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ "2021 Census Community Profiles". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- ^ Weertman, Warren (7 December 2009). "Let's Perth(fontein) again like we did last summer". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009-2013". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ "Language spoken at home by single and multiple responses of language spoken at home and mother tongue: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ "Language, England and Wales: Census 2021". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ Edilashvili-Biermann, Maia. "South Africans setting up in rural Georgia: reasons, challenges and hopes". JAM News. Retrieved 16 April 2023.