Location: Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Map references: Africa
Area:
total area: 1,219,912 sq km
land area: 1,219,912 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
note: includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island)
Land boundaries: total 4,750 km, Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 855 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km
Coastline: 2,798 km
Climate: mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
Terrain: vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Natural resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium,salt, natural gas
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 65%
forest and woodland: 3%
other: 21%
Irrigated land: 11,280 sq km (1989 est.)
Population:
total: 45,095,459 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (female 8,842,764; male 9,091,722)
15-64 years: 56% (female 12,825,617; male 12,508,039)
65 years and over: 4% (female 1,047,285; male 780,032) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate:
total: 2.61% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 33.39 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 7.42 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 45.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 65.42 years
male: 62.68 years
female: 68.25 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.35 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: South African(s)
adjective: South African
Ethnic divisions: black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%
Religions: Christian (most whites and Coloreds and about 60% of blacks), Hindu (60% of Indians), Muslim 2%
Languages: eleven official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1980)
total population: 76%
male: 78%
female: 75%
Labor force: 13.4 million economically active (1990)
by occupation: services 35%, agriculture 30%, industry 20%, mining 9%, other 6%
Names:
conventional long form: Republic of South Africa
conventional short form: South Africa
Abbreviation: RSA
Digraph: SF
Type: republic
Capital: Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial)
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Northern Transvaal, Northwest, Orange Free State, Gauteng, Western Cape
Independence: 31 May 1910 (from UK)
National holiday: Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)
Constitution: 27 April 1994 (interim constitution, replacing the constitution of 3 September 1984)
Legal system: based onRoman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Overview: Many of the white one-seventh of the South African population enjoy incomes, material comforts, and healthand educational standards equal to those of Western Europe. In contrast, most of the remaining population suffers from the poverty patterns of the Third World, including unemployment and lack of job skills. The main strength of the economy lies in its rich mineral resources, which provide two-thirds of exports. Economic developments for the remainder of the 1990s will be driven largely by the new government's attempts to improve black living conditions, to set the country on an aggressive export-ledgrowth path, and to cut back the enormous numbers of unemployed. The economy in recent years has absorbed less than 5% of the more than 300,000 workers entering the labor force annually. Local economists estimate that the economy must grow between 5% and 6% in real terms annually to absorb all of the new entrants, much less reduce the accumulated total.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $194.3 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: 2% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $4,420 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 32.6% (1994 est.); an additional 11% underemployment
Budget:
revenues: $26.3 billion
expenditures: $34 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.5 billion (FY93/94
est.)
Exports: $25.3 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: gold 27%, other minerals and metals 20%-25%, food 5%, chemicals 3%
partners: Italy, Japan, US, Germany, UK, other EU countries, Hong Kong
Imports: $21.4 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: machinery 32%, transport equipment 15%, chemicals 11%, oil, textiles,
scientific instruments
partners: Germany, US, Japan, UK, Italy
External debt: $18 billion (1994 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%; accounts for about 40% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 39,750,000 kW
production: 163 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 3,482 kWh (1993)
Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs
Agriculture: accounts for about 5% of GDP and 30% of labor force; diversified agriculture, with emphasis on livestock; products - cattle, poultry, sheep, wool, milk, beef, corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables;self-sufficient in food
Currency: 1 rand (R) = 100 cents
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Railroads:
total: 20,638 km
narrow gauge: 20,324 km 1.067-m gauge (substantial electrification); 314 km 0.610-m
gauge
Highways:
total: 188,309 km
paved: 54,013 km
unpaved: crushed stone, gravel, improved earth 134,296 km
Pipelines: crude oil 931 km; petroleum products 1,748 km; natural gas 322 km
Ports: Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mosselbaai, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha
Merchant marine:
total: 4 container ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 211,276 GRT/198,602
DWT
Airports:
total: 853
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 9
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 47
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 72
with paved runways under 914 m: 327
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 39
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 354