South Africans celebrate democracy at the 4th annual "Freedom Fest"

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JOHANNESBURG (CNN) -- Since apartheid ended, more travelers are discovering South Africa.

What they are finding is a country in rebirth.

In Johannesburg, the recent fourth annual "Freedom Fest" celebrated the nation's transition to a democratic government.

"Our country was on a precipice, basically on the verge of a very serious catastrophic war," said Peter Skosana, minister of arts and culture in Gauteng Province. "However, sanity prevailed and negotiations brought about this democratic situation. What this means for us is a celebration of victory over apartheid colonialism."

Apartheid, literally meaning "apart," was the legal separation of whites and people of color, a concept introduced in South Africa by white colonists.

In 1950, the country's "Group Areas Act" solidified apartheid as a system, forcing blacks to live in specific, impoverished areas.

Those areas, known as townships, became a sort of international symbol of apartheid. Soweto, whose name is a shortened form of Southwestern Township, is perhaps the best known. The township southwest of Johannesburg gained worldwide recognition as the heart of South Africa's freedom movement, which helped bring about the end of the segregated system in the early 1990s.

Children in the township of Soweto

South Africa's first known inhabitants left these cave drawings

In this post-apartheid era, visitors now take guided tours of townships like Soweto. Many are surprised to find prosperity amid the lingering poverty as a black middle class emerges.

In South Africa, blacks are the majority, making up 75 percent of the population. Whites are 15 percent, and the country has smaller groups of Asians and people of mixed race.

Today's black community includes more than 17 different ethnic groups speaking nearly a dozen different languages.

But all people, and all languages, may have their roots here.

Southern Africa is known as the "cradle of man" because scientists believe some of the earliest humans evolved here.

For a glimpse into the country's past, visitors go to Johannesburg's MuseumAfrica to see cave drawings, remnants of South Africa's first known inhabitants, the San.

The San were wiped out by European settlers, mainly Dutch, who arrived in what is now Cape Town in 1652 and set up a station where ships could pick up food and water on their way to and from Asia.

Cape Town

South Africa's wine country is less than a hour's drive from Cape Town

Today, Cape Town is one of the world's most beautiful cities, with modern architecture and a seaside location that make it reminiscent of San Francisco, Vancouver and Sydney. The city boasts postcard-perfect views, and many nightclubs and restaurants.

And, South Africa's verdant wine country is less than a hour's drive from Cape Town. The Dutch first introduced wine-making to South Africa, and today the country's vintages can compete with the best French, American and Australian wines.

Yet, even with the luxuries of modern life in abundance, you can't escape reminders of South Africa's past.

Off Cape Town's coast is Robben Island Prison, where many influential political activists, including Nelson Mandela, served time.

Robben Island is now one of the most visited tourist attractions in the country. Former prisoners give guided tours of the place where Mandela spent almost 27 years, before his life sentence was lifted in 1990.

Four years after his release, in 1994, Mandela was elected president. Now, as the country looks toward replacing him with a new leader next year, South Africans of all races are centering their hopes around the theme of Johannesburg's Freedom Fest -- "peace, unity and prosperity."