What is apartheid and when did it die?

Apartheid was a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the South African government from 1948 until the early 1990s. It systematically oppressed the non-white population, denying them basic rights and freedoms. The formal end of apartheid is often marked by the election of Nelson Mandela as president in 1994, following a series of negotiations and reforms that began in the late 1980s. The dismantling of apartheid was a significant milestone in the fight for racial equality and justice in South Africa.