African nation vs South Africa

African nation and South Africa both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
African nation	Yes	No	No	No
South Africa	Yes	No	No	No

African nation (noun)	South Africa (noun)
any one of the countries occupying the African continent	a republic at the southernmost part of Africa; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1910; first European settlers were Dutch (known as Boers)