South African rand

The rand (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand (White-waters-ridge in English), the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c". The ISO 4217 code is ZAR, from Dutch Zuid-Afrikaanse rand. (South African Rand). This is echoed in South Africa's internet TLD name ".za"... more

The rand (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand (White-waters-ridge in English), the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c". The ISO 4217 code is ZAR, from Dutch Zuid-Afrikaanse rand. (South African Rand). This is echoed in South Africa's internet TLD name ".za" from the Dutch Zuid Afrika or "South Africa". The rand is the currency of the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho. The rand was introduced in 1961, coinciding with the establishment of the Republic of South Africa. It replaced the South African pound as legal tender, at the rate of 2 rand = 1 pound or 10 shillings to the rand. A rand was worth more than a U.S. dollar from the time of its inception in 1961 until 1982, when mounting political pressure combined with sanctions placed against the country... less