Map of South Africa | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806 many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). The resulting Union of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered in black majority rule.


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Location: Southern Africa at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

Geographic coordinates: 29 00 S 24 00 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 1,219,912 km²
Land: 1,219,912 km²
Water: 0 km²
Note: includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island)
Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries
Total: 4,862 km
Border countries: (6) Botswana 1,840 km; , Lesotho 909 km; , Mozambique 491 km; , Namibia 967 km; , Swaziland 430 km; , Zimbabwe 225 km

Coastline: 2,798 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin

Climate: mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days cool nights

Terrain: vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m

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: 12.1%
Permanent crops: 0.79%
Other: 87.11% (2005)

Irrigated land: 14,980 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: prolonged droughts

Geography
Note: South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland


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Population
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)
Growth rate: -0.46% (2007 est.)
Below poverty line: 50% (2000 est.)

Nationality
Noun: South African
Adjective: South African

Ethnic groups: black African 79% white 9.6% colored 8.9% Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)

Languages: IsiZulu 23.8% IsiXhosa 17.6% Afrikaans 13.3% Sepedi 9.4% English 8.2% Setswana 8.2% Sesotho 7.9% Xitsonga 4.4% other 7.2% (2001 census)

Religions: Zion Christian 11.1% Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2% Catholic 7.1% Methodist 6.8% Dutch Reformed 6.7% Anglican 3.8% Muslim 1.5% other Christian 36% other 2.3% unspecified 1.4% none 15.1% (2001 census)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 29.1% (male 6,447,623/female 6,370,909)
15-64 years: 65.5% (male 14,040,210/female 14,761,179)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 917,227/female 1,460,680) (2007 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 24.3 years
Male: 23.5 years
Female: 25.1 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.46% (2007 est.)

Birth rate: 17.94 births/1000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate: 22.45 deaths/1000 population (2007 est.)

Net migration rate
Note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2007 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures; growth in water usage outpacing supply; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge; air pollution resulting in acid rain; soil erosion; desertification
International agreements party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.02 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.012 male/female
15-64 years: 0.951 male/female
65 years and over: 0.628 male/female
Total population: 0.947 male/female (2007 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 59.44 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 62.95 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 55.84 deaths/1000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 42.45 years
Male: 43.21 years
Female: 41.66 years (2007 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.16 children born/woman (2007 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 21.5% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 5.3 million (2003 est.)
Deaths: 370,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 86.4%
Male: 87%
Female: 85.7% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of South Africa
Conventional short form: South Africa
Former: Union of South Africa
Abbreviation: RSA

Government type: republic

Capital
Name: Pretoria (administrative capital)
Geographic coordinates: 25 42 S, 28 13 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Note: Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga Northern Cape North-West Western Cape

Dependent areas

Independence: 31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony Natal Transvaal and Orange Free State); 31 May 1961 (republic declared)

National holiday: Freedom Day 27 April (1994)

Constitution: 10 December 1996; this new constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996 was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 December 1996 and entered into effect on 4 February 1997; it is being implemented in phases

Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since 23 June 2005); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since 23 June 2005)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 24 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009)
Election results: Thabo MBEKI elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100% (by acclamation)

Legislative branch
Elections: National Assembly and National Council of Provinces - last held on 14 April 2004 (next to be held in 2009)
Election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - ANC 69.7%, DA 12.4%, IFP 7%, UDM 2.3%, NNP 1.7%, ACDP 1.6%, other 5.3%; seats by party - ANC 279, DA 50, IFP 28, UDM 9, NNP 7, ACDP 6, other 21; National Council of Provinces - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate Courts

Political parties and leaders: African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE]; African National Congress or ANC [Thabo MBEKI]; Democratic Alliance or DA [Helen ZILLE]; Freedom Front Plus or FF+ [Pieter MULDER]; Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI]; New National Party or NNP; Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Motsoko PHEKO]; United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu HOLOMISA]

International organization participation: ACP AfDB AU BIS C FAO G-24 G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICCt ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC MIGA MONUC NAM NSG ONUB OPCW PCA SACU SADC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNITAR UNMEE UNWTO UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Welile Augustine NHLAPO
In the us chancery: 3,051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 232-4,400
In the us fax: [1] (202) 265-1607
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Eric BOST
From the us embassy: 877 Pretorius Street, Pretoria
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 9,536, Pretoria 0001
From the us telephone: [27] (12) 342-1048
From the us fax: [27] (12) 342-2,244
From the us consulates general: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg

Flag description: two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: South Africa is a middle-income emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial legal communications energy and transport sectors; a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world; and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. However growth has not been strong enough to lower South Africa's high unemployment rate and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era - especially poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. South African economic policy is fiscally conservative but pragmatic focusing on targeting inflation and liberalizing trade as means to increase job growth and household income.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $587.5 billion (2006 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 5% (2006 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $13,300 (2006 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 2.7%
Industry: 30.9%
Services: 66.4% (2006 est.)

Agriculture products: corn wheat sugarcane fruits vegetables; beef poultry mutton wool dairy products

Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum gold chromium) automobile assembly metalworking machinery textiles iron and steel chemicals fertilizer foodstuffs commercial ship repair

Industrial production growth rate: 7.1% (2006 est.)

Labor force: 16.96 million economically active (2006 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 30%
By occupation industry: 25%
By occupation services: 45% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 25.5% (2006 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 50% (2000 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.4%
Highest 10: 44.7% (2000)

Distribution of family income gini index: 57.8 (2000)

Budget
Revenues: $69.22 billion
Expenditures: $67.78 billion (2006 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt: 33.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4.6% (2006 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares: $715 billion (2006)

Current account balance: $-16.28 billion (2006 est.)

Exports: $63.77 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Commodities: gold diamonds platinum other metals and minerals machinery and equipment
Partners: Japan 12.1% US 11.8% UK 9% Germany 7.6% Netherlands 5.3% China 4% (2006)

Imports: $69.94 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment chemicals petroleum products scientific instruments foodstuffs
Partners: Germany 12.6% China 10% US 7.6% Japan 6.6% Saudi Arabia 5.3% UK 5% (2006)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $25.59 billion (2006 est.)

Debt external: $31.84 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $77.35 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $43.32 billion (2006 est.)

Exchange rates: rand per US dollar - 6.7649 (2006) 6.3593 (2005) 6.4597 (2004) 7.5648 (2003) 10.5407 (2002)


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Electricity
Production: 228.3 billion kWh (2005)
Consumption: 210.7 billion kWh (2005)
Exports: 13.42 billion kWh (2005)
Imports: 11.08 billion kWh (2005)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 2.11 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Consumption: 2.11 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2005 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2005)
Proven reserves: 27.16 million m³ (1 January 2006 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 4.729 million (2005)
Mobile cellular: 39.66 million (2006)

Telephone system
General assessment: the system is the best developed and most modern in Africa
Domestic: consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria
International: country code - 27; 2 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .za
Hosts: 1.088 million (2007)
Users: 5.1 million (2005)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 1.7% (2006)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; women have a long history of military service in noncombat roles dating back to World War I (2004)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 728 (2007)
With paved runways total: 146
With paved runways over 3047 m: 10
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 5
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 51
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 67
With paved runways under 914 m: 13 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 582
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 34
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 300
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 248 (2007)

Heliports: 1 (2007)

Pipelines: condensate 100 km; gas 1062 km; oil 966 km; refined products 1354 km (2006)

Railways
Total: 20,872 km
Narrow gauge: 20,436 km 1.065-m gauge (8,931 km electrified); 436 km 0.610-m gauge (2006)

Roadways
Total: 362,099 km
Paved: 73,506 km (includes 239 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 288,593 km (2002)

Waterways

Merchant marine
Total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 28,722 GRT/32,226 DWT
By type: container 1, petroleum tanker 1
Foreign owned: 1 (Denmark 1)
Registered in other countries: 6 (Bahamas 1, Seychelles 1, UK 4, unknown 1) (2007)

Ports and terminals: Cape Town Durban East London Port Elizabeth Richards Bay Saldanha Bay


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Disputes international: South Africa has placed military along the border to apprehend the thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing economic dysfunction and political persecution; as of January 2007 South Africa also supports large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (33,000) Somalia (20,000) Burundi (6,500) and other states in Africa (26,000); managed dispute with Namibia over the location of the boundary in the Orange River; in 2006 Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 10,609 (Democratic Republic of Congo), 7,548 (Somalia), 5,764 (Angola) (2006)

Illicit drugs: transshipment center for heroin hashish and cocaine as well as a major cultivator of marijuana in its own right; cocaine and heroin consumption on the rise; world's largest market for illicit methaqualone usually imported illegally from India through various east African countries but increasingly producing its own synthetic drugs for domestic consumption; attractive venue for money launderers given the increasing level of organized criminal and narcotics activity in the region and the size of the South African economy