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South Africa

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Background :

Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of modern day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. 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); however, the British and the Afrikaners, as the Boers became known, ruled together beginning in 1910 under the Union of South Africa, which became a republic in 1961 after a whites-only referendum. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races - which favored the white minority at the expense of the black majority. The African National Congress (ANC) led the opposition to apartheid and many top ANC leaders, such as Nelson MANDELA, spent decades in South Africa's prisons. Internal protests and insurgency, as well as boycotts by some Western nations and institutions, led to the regime's eventual willingness to negotiate a peaceful transition to majority rule. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid and ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government. South Africa since then has struggled to address apartheid-era imbalances in decent housing, education, and health care. ANC infighting, which has grown in recent years, came to a head in September 2008 when President Thabo MBEKI resigned, and Kgalema MOTLANTHE, the party's General-Secretary, succeeded him as interim president. Jacob ZUMA became president after the ANC won general elections in April 2009. 

Location :

Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

29 00 S, 24 00 E  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West 16.46
North -22.13
East 32.90
South -34.84

Area :

total 1 219 090 square km
land 1 214 470 square km
water 4 620 square km

Land boundaries :

total 4 862 km
Botswana (bw) 1 840 km
Lesotho (ls) 909 km
Mozambique (mz) 491 km
Namibia (na) 967 km
Swaziland (sz) 430 km
Zimbabwe (zw) 225 km

Coastline :

2798.00 km

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 0 metres
highest point 3 408 metres

Natural resources :

antimony chromium
coal copper
gem diamonds gold
iron ore manganese
natural gas nickel
phosphates platinum
salt tin
uranium vanadium

Land use :

arable land 12.10 %
permanent crops 0.79 %
other 87.11 %

Irrigated land :

14 980 square km

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 :

Antarctic Seals Antarctic Treaty
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol Antarctic-Marine Living Resources
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

Population :

49 052 489 

Indicators :

Growth rate 0.28 %
Birth rate 19.93 births/1,000 population
Total fertility rate 2.38 children born/woman
Death rate 16.99 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate -0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Age structure :

0-14 years 28.90 %
15-64 years 65.80 %
65 years and over 5.40 %

Median age :

total 24.40 years
male 24.10 years
female 24.80 years

Sex ratio :

at birth 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years 1.00 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.69 male(s)/female
total population 0.99 male(s)/female

Health :

Infant mortality rate 44.42 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth - total population 48.98 years
Life expectancy at birth - male 49.81 years
Life expectancy at birth - female 48.13 years
HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate 18.10 %
HIV-AIDS people living with HIV-AIDS 5 700 000
HIV-AIDS deaths 350 000

Religions :

Zion Christian 11.10 %
Pentecostal 8.20 %
Catholic 7.10 %
Methodist 6.80 %
Dutch Reformed 6.70 %
Anglican 3.80 %
Muslim 1.50 %
other Christian 36.00 %
other 2.30 %
unspecified 1.40 %
none 15.10 %

Languages :

IsiZulu 23.80 %
IsiXhosa 17.60 %
Afrikaans 13.30 %
Sepedi 9.40 %
English 8.20 %
Setswana 8.20 %
Sesotho 7.90 %
Xitsonga 4.40 %

Literacy :

total population 86.40 %
male 87.00 %
female 85.70 %

Country name :

conventional long form Republic of South Africa
conventional short form South Africa
former Union of South Africa

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 ZA
ISO Numeric 710
ISO3 ZAF
FIPS SF
ccTLD za
English South Africa

Administrative divisions :

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

Capital :

name Pretoria
geographic coordinates 25 42 S, 28 13 E
time difference 2.00

International organization participation :

ACP AU
AfDB BIS
C FAO
FATF G-20
G-24 G-77
IAEA IBRD
ICAO ICC
ICCt ICRM
IDA IFAD
IFC IFRCS
IHO ILO
IMF IMO
IMSO IOC
IOM IPU
ISO ITSO
ITU ITUC
Interpol MIGA
MONUC NAM
NSG OPCW
PCA Paris Club (associate)
SACU SADC
UN UNAMID
UNCTAD UNESCO
UNHCR UNIDO
UNITAR UNWTO
UPU WCO
WFTU WHO
WIPO WMO
WTO ZC

Independence :

1910-05-31 

National holiday :

Freedom Day

1994-04-27

Executive branch :

President Jacob ZUMA

Legislative branch :

NA; seats by party - NA; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - ANC 65.90 %
DA 16.70 %
COPE 7.40 %
IFP 4.60 %
other 5.40 %

GDP - Gross Domestic product :

PPP - Purchasing Power Parity 488 600 000 000 $
Official Exchange Rate 277 400 000 000
RGR - Real Growth rate -1.90 %
PPP - per capita 10 000 $

GDP Composition by sector :

agriculture 3.50 %
industry 32.10 %
services 64.40 %

Labor force - by occupation :

agriculture 9.00 %
industry 26.00 %
services 65.00 %

Other Indicators :

Labor force 17 320 000 people
Unemployment rate 24.00 %
Population below poverty line 50.00 %
Distribution of family income - Gini index 65.00
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 7.20 %
Investment (gross fixed) 20.60 % of GDP
Current account balance - 15 600 000 000 $
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 37 410 000 000 $
Debt external 73 840 000 000 $
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad 65 069 999 999 $
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home 125 700 000 000 $
Market value of publicly traded shares 491 300 000 000 $
Military expenditures 1.70 % of GDP
Public debt 35.70 % of GDP

Household income or consumption by percentage share :

lowest 10% 1.30 %
highest 10% 44.70 %

Budget :

revenues 74 920 000 000 $
expenditures 86 260 000 000 $

Agriculture - products :

beef corn
dairy fruits
mutton poultry
sugarcane vegetables
wheat wool

Industries :

car assembly chemicals
chromium commercial ship repair
fertilizer foodstuffs
gold iron
machinery metalworking
mining steel
textiles tin of platinum

Energy :

Electricity Production 240 300 000 000 kWh
Electricity Consumption 215 100 000 000 kWh
Electricity Exports 14 160 000 000 kWh
Electricity Imports 10 570 000 000 kWh
Oil Production 195 000 bbl/day
Oil Consumption 583 000 bbl/day
Oil Exports 128 500 bbl/day
Oil Imports 490 500 bbl/day
Oil Proved reserves 15 000 000 bbl
Natural gas Production 3 250 000 000 cubic metres
Natural gas Consumption 6 450 000 000 cubic metres
Natural gas Imports 3 200 000 000 cubic metres
Electricity Exports 27 160 000 cubic metres

Value :

67 930 000 000 $

Commodities :

diamonds gold
machinery and equipment metals and minerals
platinum

Value :

70 240 000 000 $

Commodities :

chemicals foodstuffs
machinery and equipment petroleum products
scientific instruments

Communications :

Telephons Main lines in use 4 425 000
Telephons Mobile, Cellular 45 000 000
FM Radio broadcast stations 347
Television broadcast stations 556
Internet Country code (ccTLD) za
Internet Hosts 1 730 000
Internet Users 4 187 000

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 148
Heliports 1
Pipelines - gas 908 km
Pipelines - oil 980 km
Pipelines - condensate 11 km
Pipelines - refined products 1 379 km
Roadways - total 362 099 km
Roadways - expressways 239 km
Roadways - paved 73 506 km
Roadways - unpaved 288 593 km
Railways 20 872 km

Photos

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