South Africa's nine provinces and their capitals, from Bhisho to Mahikeng

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South Africa's nine provinces and their capitals, from Bhisho to Mahikeng

Background

South Africa, which is holding municipal elections across 214 municipalities this fortnight, is divided into nine provinces.
The Government of South Africa lists them with their capitals as Eastern Cape (Bhisho), Free State (Bloemfontein), Gauteng (Johannesburg), KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg) and Limpopo (Polokwane).
The others are Mpumalanga (Mbombela), Northern Cape (Kimberley), North West (Mahikeng) and Western Cape (Cape Town).
Gauteng is the most populous, at 15 931 824 people, though it is the smallest in area at 18 178 square kilometres.
Northern Cape is the largest in area at 372 889 square kilometres and the least populous.
The figures are drawn from Census 2022 and the mid-year population estimates of 2024.

Provinces: 9 Most populous province: Gauteng, 15 931 824 Largest by area: Northern Cape, 372 889 km2 Smallest by area: Gauteng, 18 178 km2

Why it matters for exams: Province-capital pairs are a direct one-mark question, and the Gauteng and Northern Cape contrast tests whether a candidate reads the area column too.

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16 October 2026 Source: Government of South Africa