It's a question of identity
I was travelling in Europe recently and in one of the countries where I was, my host asked me if I could speak "South African". Before that question, she had spoken extensively about how she was in love with Africa and how when she was younger, she used to perform African songs as she was in a band. She has never visited and hopes to someday. It might sound like a cliché but she spoke about Africa like it was a country. I indulged her and listened, before I could answer, she went on anyway. She mentioned that she had never visited Africa but was keen to do so. The next question, I can't remember how exactly she framed it but it came across like Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana were all cities that were next to each other. At this point, I told her to give me a minute then I pulled up this map of Africa.