What country is completely surrounded by South Africa?

The country completely surrounded by South Africa is Lesotho.

Lesotho is an enclave: every part of its international boundary touches South Africa. Its border forms a closed loop of about 909 kilometres, enclosing a mountainous country of roughly 30,355 square kilometres. Lesotho is therefore landlocked, despite having a distinctive national territory entirely inside another sovereign state.

The country’s geography is unusual in other ways too. Lesotho is the only independent country whose entire territory lies above 1,000 metres in elevation. Its lowest point is around 1,400 metres, while Thabana Ntlenyana rises to 3,482 metres and is the highest peak in southern Africa.

The enclave developed from the Basotho polity formed under Moshoeshoe I in the 1820s. After conflicts with Boer states, the territory became the British protectorate of Basutoland in 1868 and gained independence as Lesotho in 1966. It is often confused with Eswatini, another southern African kingdom, but Eswatini borders both South Africa and Mozambique.