South Africa’s surface area covers 1 219 602km² and hosts a wide variety of physical features such as bushveld, grasslands, forests, deserts, mountain peaks, coastal wetlands, and beaches (Countryeconomy.com, 2018; South African Government, 2018b). The country comprises of 9 provinces with a population density that varies widely across more urban versus more rural spaces. See table below for the population density for each province (according to the 2011 National Census, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_African_provinces_by_population_density):

Table 2: Population Density across provinces

Province	Population (2011)	Area (km²)	Density (per km²)
Gauteng	12,272,263	18,178	675.1
Kwazulu-Natal	10,267,300	120,361	85.3
Mpumalanga	4,039,939	76,495	52.8
Western Cape	5,822,734	129,462	45.0
Limpopo	5,404,868	125,755	43.0
Eastern Cape	6,562,053	168,966	38.8
North West	3,509,953	104,882	38.8
Free State	2,745,590	129,825	21.1
Northern Cape	1,145,861	372,889	3.1
South Africa	51,770,561*	1,220,813	42.3

Source: National Census 2011 at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_African_provinces_by_population_density

* Total population for 2011 (57.7 million in 2018).

References:

Countryeconomy.com. (2018). Countries data: Demographic and economy South Africa. Countryeconomy.Com. https://countryeconomy.com/countries/south-africa

South African Government. (2018b). Geography and climate. Republic of South Africa. Available from: https://www.gov.za/about-sa/geography-and-climate