Which African country is known as the 'Rainbow Nation'?

South Africa is the African country known as the “Rainbow Nation.” The phrase describes the country’s multicultural population and its hoped-for unity after apartheid, the system of institutionalised racial segregation and white minority rule.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu popularised the expression in the years surrounding South Africa’s transition to democracy. Nelson Mandela then helped make it part of the country’s public identity after the first multiracial general election in April 1994. Mandela’s government promoted reconciliation among communities that had been separated and oppressed for decades.

The nickname is not an official constitutional name, and it does not mean that South Africa’s social problems disappeared. Critics have used “rainbowism” to argue that the phrase can gloss over continuing inequality, racism, poverty, and political conflict. It is also sometimes confused with the colours of the national flag, but the nickname primarily refers to the country’s people and its post-apartheid nation-building project.