South Africa

South Africa 

Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

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

Area

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

Maritime Claims

International Disputes

Swaziland has asked South Africa to open negotiations on reincorporating some nearby South African territories that are populated by ethnic Swazis or that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom;

Climate

Mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights

Terrain

Vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m

Natural Resources

Land Use

Irrigated Land

11,280 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment

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

PEOPLE

Population

41,743,459 (July 1996 est.)
45,095,459 (July 1995 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 Years

36% (male 7,578,639; female 7,428,123) (July 1996 est.)
40% (male 9,091,722; female 8,842,764) (July 1995 est.)

15-64 Years

60% (male 12,356,753; female 12,516,467) (July 1996 est.)
56% (male 12,508,039; female 12,825,617) (July 1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

4% (male 744,806; female 1,118,671) (July 1996 est.)
4% (male 780,032; female 1,047,285) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

1.76% (1996 est.)
2.61% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

27.91 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
33.39 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

10.32 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
7.42 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
0.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.98 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

48.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
45.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Fertility Rate

3.43 children born/woman (1996 est.)
4.35 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic Divisions

Religions

Languages

Eleven official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

Literacy

Age 15 and over that can read and write (1980)

Labor Force

14.2 million economically active (1996)

By occupation:

GOVERNMENT

Names

Abbreviation

RSA

Digraph

SF

Type

Republic

Capital

Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative); Bloemfontein (judicial)

Administrative Divisions

9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Eastern Transvaal, KwaZulu/Natal, Northern Cape, Northern Transvaal, Northwest, Orange Free State, Gauteng, Western Cape

Independence

31 May 1910 (from U.K.)

National Holiday

Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)

Constitution

27 April 1994 (interim constitution, replacing the constitution of 3 September 1984); note - on 8 May 1996, the Constitutional Assembly voted 421 to two to pass a new constitution which, after certification by the Constitutional Court, will gradually go into effect over a three-year period and come into full force with the next national elections in April 1999

Legal System

Based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Note: Any political party that wins 20% or more of the National Assembly votes in a general election is entitled to name a deputy executive president; moreover, any party that wins 20 or more seats in the National Assembly is entitled to become a member of the governing coalition; currently, the ANC, the IFP, and the NP constitute a Government of National Unity (GNU)

Legislative Branch

Bicameral

National Assembly

Elections last held 26-29 April 1994 (next to be held NA); results - ANC 62.6%, NP 20.4%, IFP 10.5%, FF 2.2%, DP 1.7%, PAC 1.2%, ACDP 0.5%, other 0.9%; seats - (400 total) ANC 252, NP 82, IFP 43, FF 9, DP 7, PAC 5, ACDP 2

Senate

The Senate is composed of members who are nominated by the nine provincial parliaments (which are elected in parallel with the National Assembly) and has special powers to protect regional interests, including the right to limited self-determination for ethnic minorities; seats - (90 total) ANC 61, NP 17, FF 4, IFP 5, DP 3

Note: When the National Assembly meets in joint session with the Senate to consider the provisions of the constitution, the combined group is referred to as the Constitutional Assembly

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court

Political Parties and Leaders

African National Congress (ANC), Nelson MANDELA, president; National Party (NP), NA, president; Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI, president; Freedom Front (FF), Constand VILJOEN, president; Democratic Party (DP), Tony LEON, president; Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), Clarence MAKWETU, president; African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Kenneth MESHOE, president

Note: In addition to these seven parties which received seats in the National Assembly, 11 other parties won votes in the national elections in April 1994

Other Political or Pressure Groups

NA

Member of

BIS, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NAM, OAU, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Anthem

Flag

Two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horozontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side, embracing a black isoceles 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

Note: Prior to 26 April 1994, the flag was actually four flags in one - three miniature flags reproduced in the center of the white band of the former flag of the Netherlands, which has three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and blue; the miniature flags are a vertically hanging flag of the old Orange Free State with a horizontal flag of the U.K. adjoining on the hoist side and a horizontal flag of the old Transvaal Republic adjoining on the other side
(view old South-Africa-flag)
(view present South-Africa-flag)

ECONOMY

Overview

Many of the white one-seventh of the South African population enjoy incomes, material comforts, and health and 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-led growth 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 - $215 billion (1995 est.), $194.3 billion (1994 est.)

National Product Real Growth Rate

3.3% (1995 est.)
2% (1994 est.)

National Product Per Capita

$4,800 (1995 est.)
$4,420 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

8.7% (1995)
9% (1994 est.)

Unemployment Rate

32.6% (1996 est.); an additional 11% underemployment
32.6% (1994 est.); an additional 11% underemployment

Budget

Exports

$27.9 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
$25.3 billion (f.o.b., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

Imports

$27 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
$21.4 billion (f.o.b., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

External Debt

$22 billion (1995 est.)
$18 billion (1994 est.)

Industrial Production

Growth rate NA; accounts for about 40% of GDP

Electricity

Industries

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

Illicit Drugs

Transshipment center for heroin and cocaine; cocaine consumption on the rise; world's largest market for illicit methaqualone, usually imported illegally from India through various east African countries

Economic Aid

Current aid pledges include US $600 million over three years ending in 1996; UK $150 million over three years; Australia $21 million over three years; Japan $1.3 billion over two years ending in 1996; EU $833 million over five years

Currency

1 rand (R) = 100 cents

Exchange Rates

Rand (R) per US$1 - 3.6417 (January 1996), 3.6266 (1995), 3.5490 (1994), 3.2636 (1993), 2.8497 (1992), 2.7563 (1991), 2.5863 (1990)

Fiscal Year

1 April - 31 March

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

Highways

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

Airports

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone System

Over 5,206,235 telephones (1993 est.); the system is the best developed, most modern, and has the highest capacity in Africa

Radio

Television

DEFENSE FORCES

Branches

South African National Defence Force (SANDF; includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Medical Services), South African Police Service (SAPS)

Manpower Availability

Males age 15-49 10,686,976; males fit for military service 6,502,265; males reach military age (18) annually 424,854 (1995 est.)

Defense Expenditures

Exchange rate conversion - $2.9 billion, 2.2% of GDP (FY95/96), $3.2 billion, 2.8% of GDP (FY93/94)

History
World Atlas