List of South African provinces by population

Since the election of 27 April 1994, South Africa has been divided into nine provinces. They vary widely in population, from the mostly-urban Gauteng, which contains over 20% of the national population, to the mostly-desert Northern Cape, which contains less than 3%. The following table shows the provincial populations according to the 2011 National Census and the most recent mid-year population estimate by Statistics South Africa.

Since the creation of the current provinces in 1994 there have been three censuses, in 1996, 2001 and 2011.