Ranked by fame on Wikipedia: language editions times page views of the last 12 months. Each person is on one board only.
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Photo credits
- Portraits are freely licensed Wikimedia Commons files; the rest are public domain. Attribution:
- Elon Musk — Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Nelson Mandela — Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Charlize Theron — PhilipRomano · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Cyril Ramaphosa — Ricardo Stuckert · CC BY 4.0
- Jacob Zuma — Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
- F. W. de Klerk — Walter Rutishauser, Photographer · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Trevor Noah — Web Summit Qatar · CC BY 2.0
- Tyla — SWinxy · CC BY 4.0
- Thabo Mbeki — Antônio Milena/ABr · Attribution
Rules & what counts
Most Famous People from South Africa Quiz — Rules & What Counts
This quiz shows 10 portrait cards, ranked from 1 to 10. Each card is one of the 10 most famous people from South Africa. Type the person's name to solve the card.
Each card shows the portrait and the rank. The name, the occupation and the years appear when you solve the card.
Fame is measured on Wikipedia. The score is the number of language editions with an article about the person, multiplied by the English Wikipedia page views of the last 12 months. The board updates from time to time.
How to play
- Just start typing. The quiz checks your answer at every keystroke. There is no submit button.
- A correct name solves the card and shows the full name, the occupation and the years.
- You can answer in any order. The name you type solves the matching card wherever it sits.
- Everyday names count. A surname alone, a stage name and a common nickname are accepted.
- Spelling is forgiving. Capitals, accents and punctuation are ignored.
- The timer starts at your first keystroke and counts up. Give Up ends the run and shows every person you missed. Progress saves automatically.
What counts in this quiz
- The 10 people from South Africa with the highest fame score. Each person is on one board only: the country the person is known under.
- A person counts for the country in the first line of the person's Wikipedia description. If the description names no country, the country of birth counts.
- A stage name counts as the name. A surname alone counts when only one person on the board has it.
What's not included — and why
- People outside the top 10 do not count. A guess that is not on the board changes nothing. There is no penalty.
- Legendary and biblical figures are not on the boards. There is no real picture of them.
- People famous mainly for mass murder, terrorism or organised crime are not on the boards.
Good to know
- Elon Musk is the most famous person from South Africa on this board. Elon Musk is a business leader.
- The tenth card is Thabo Mbeki, a president.
- 5 of the 10 people have the same occupation: president.
- 7 of the 10 people are alive today.