Apartheid, ah PAHRT hayt or ah PAHRT hyt, was, from 1948 until 1991, the South African government's policy of rigid racial segregation. The word apartheid means separateness in Afrikaans, one of South Africa's official languages.

Built on earlier South African laws and customs, apartheid classified every South African by race as either (1) black, (2) white, (3) Colored (mixed race), or (4) Asian. Apartheid required segregation in housing, education, employment, public accommodations, and transportation. It segregated not only almost all whites from nonwhites but also major nonwhite groups from each other. It also limited the rights of nonwhites to own and occupy land, and to enter white neighborhoods.

The South African government tried to justify apartheid by claiming that peaceful coexistence of the races was possible only if the races were separated from one another. However, white South Africans used apartheid chiefly as a way to control the vast nonwhite majority.

Most South Africans strongly opposed apartheid. Violence often broke out, and thousands of people, most of them blacks, were killed. Many countries also opposed apartheid. As a result, South Africa grew increasingly isolated in the world community. During the 1980's, a widespread economic boycott of South Africa took hold. In response to domestic and international pressure, South Africa began repealing apartheid laws in the 1970's. Finally, in 1991, the government repealed the last of the laws that formed the legal basis of apartheid.

Excerpt from the "Apartheid" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999