Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa's first democratically elected president in 1994, died at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, at the age of 95.
President Jacob Zuma announced the death in a late-evening address, declaring ten days of national mourning. Crowds gathered outside the house through the night, singing struggle songs.
Mr Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, most of them on Robben Island, and on his release in 1990 led negotiations that produced a democratic constitution. He served a single term as president and spent his later years working on reconciliation and HIV/Aids advocacy.
