Ten stadiums will be used for the 2010 tournament:
Soccer City in Johannesburg, Gauteng
Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Gauteng
Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town, Western Cape
King Senzangakhona Stadium in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
Loftus Versveld in Pretoria, Gauteng
Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, Free State
Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, North West
Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga
Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo
South Africa? Where's that?
On the southern tip of Africa (that lozenge-shaped continent east of America, south of Europe and west of China), where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. There are nine provinces: Gauteng, the smallest and most densely populated, adjoins Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga in the north; the Northern Cape, the largest province with the smallest population, is in the west; the Free State is in the middle of the country; and the coastal provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape lie to the south.
Well, what's the place like?
Believe it or not, they have cities with roads and skyscrapers and electric lights. South Africa is the powerhouse of Africa, the most advanced, broad-based economy on the continent, with infrastructure to match any first-world country.
You can drive on wide, tarred highways all 2 000 kilometres from Musina at the very top of the country to Cape Town at the bottom. Or join over 7-million international travellers who disembark at our airports every year.
Two-thirds of Africa's electricity is generated locally. Twenty percent of the world's gold and 77% of its platinum is mined there. And almost everyone who visits is astonished at how far a dollar, euro or pound will stretch ...
And the people?
South Africa is a nation of over 46-million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages and beliefs. Africans are in the majority at 37.2-million, some 79.4% of the population. The white population is estimated at 4.4-million (9.3%), the coloured population at 4.1-million (8.8%) and the Indian or Asian population at 1.1-million (2.5%).
And they are good company.
"We can say that the people of South Africa were always friendly, very boisterous and constantly celebrating during our visit to the country,"Fifa's inspection team said in their country report. "[They] would stop and show their joy and support of the country's commitment whenever our group passed by."