South Africa is the rare country with a hole in it, and the hole scores. Players draw a solid blob and watch Lesotho — an entire sovereign country inside the outline — cost them overlap points.
The shape at a glance
South Africa is a broad rounded mass, about 1.5 times wider than tall, filling the continent's bottom end. The south tapers to the Cape of Good Hope's sharp point, the east coast runs long and smooth toward Mozambique, and the north is a wavy border along the Limpopo and Botswana. Lesotho sits entirely inside the eastern half as a donut hole.
Step by step
- Start with a wide rounded box, about 1.5 times wider than tall.
- Taper the bottom into the Cape — the sharp southwest point at the continent's tip.
- Run the east coast in a long smooth sweep from the Cape up toward Mozambique and Eswatini.
- Draw the north border wavy: the Limpopo line against Zimbabwe and Botswana.
- Give the northwest a long straight-ish edge along Namibia, stopping short of its panhandle.
- Cut the Lesotho hole: a small round void in the east-central interior, ringed by South African land.
Mistakes that cost you points
- Leaving Lesotho filled in — it is a hole, and empty space counts in the overlap.
- Making the Cape point too blunt; the southwest tip is genuinely sharp.
- Drawing the east coast jagged when it is one of Africa's smoother shorelines.
- Stretching the country north into Namibia's panhandle, which belongs to the neighbor.
Place it on the map
South Africa caps the continent, touching Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe along its north, and Mozambique and Eswatini in the east, with Lesotho fully enclosed inside. It is the country at the very bottom of Africa, point down.
Pro tip: Draw the Lesotho hole even if it feels silly — IoU counts the void. And sharpen the Cape: that point is the most area-efficient feature on the whole outline.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you draw South Africa from memory?
- Start with the overall box — is South Africa wider than tall or the reverse — then place its signature feature first and build the rest of the outline around it. Finish with the coastline details, then compare against the real border in a free practice round to get a 0-100 score.
- How hard is it to draw South Africa?
- South Africa rates as medium difficulty. A broad rounded mass with the Cape point — and the Lesotho hole in the middle that everyone forgets.