SOUTHAFRICA
MARCH 25, 2009 BY RANG WHAM
| Introduction | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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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 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 under the
Union of South Africa. In 1948, the National Party was voted into
power and instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate
development of the races. The first multi-racial elections in 1994
brought an end to apartheid and ushered in black majority rule under
the African National Congress (ANC). ANC infighting, which has grown
in recent years, came to a head in September 2008 after President
Thabo MBEKI resigned. Kgalema MOTLANTHE, the party's
General-Secretary, succeeded as interim president until general
elections scheduled for 2009.
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| Geography | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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Location:
Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
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Geographic coordinates:
29 00 S, 24 00 E
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Map references:
Africa
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Area:
total: 1,219,090 sq km
land: 1,214,470 sq km water: 4,620 sq km note: includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island) |
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Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
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Land boundaries:
total: 4,862 km
border countries: Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km |
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Coastline:
2,798 km
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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 |
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Climate:
mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool
nights
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Terrain:
vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal
plain
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Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m |
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Natural resources:
gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel,
phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper,
vanadium, salt, natural gas
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Land use:
arable land: 12.1%
permanent crops: 0.79% other: 87.11% (2005) |
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Irrigated land:
14,980 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources:
50 cu km (1990)
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Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 12.5 cu km/yr (31%/6%/63%)
per capita: 264 cu m/yr (2000) |
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Natural hazards:
prolonged droughts
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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
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Environment - 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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Geography - note:
South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely
surrounds Swaziland
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| People | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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Population:
49,052,489
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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.) |
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Age structure:
0-14 years: 28.9% (male 7,093,328/female 7,061,579)
15-64 years: 65.8% (male 16,275,424/female 15,984,181) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,075,117/female 1,562,860) (2009 est.) |
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Median age:
total: 24.4 years
male: 24.1 years female: 24.8 years (2009 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
0.281% (2009 est.)
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Birth rate:
19.93 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Death rate:
16.99 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
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Net migration rate:
-0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2009 est.) |
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Urbanization:
urban population: 61% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 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 (2009 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
total: 44.42 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 48.66 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.98 years
male: 49.81 years female: 48.13 years (2009 est.) |
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Total fertility rate:
2.38 children born/woman (2009 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
18.1% (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
5.7 million (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
350,000 (2007 est.)
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Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2009) |
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Nationality:
noun: South African(s)
adjective: South African |
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Ethnic groups:
black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5%
(2001 census)
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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)
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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)
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Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4% male: 87% female: 85.7% (2003 est.) |
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary
education):
total: 13 years
male: 13 years female: 13 years (2004) |
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Education expenditures:
5.4% of GDP (2006)
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| Government | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of South Africa
conventional short form: South Africa former: Union of South Africa abbreviation: RSADanmark |
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Government type:
republic
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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) |
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Administrative divisions:
9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal,
Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North-West, Western Cape
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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) 27 April 1994 (majority rule)
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National holiday:
Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)
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Constitution:
10 December 1996; note - 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
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Legal system:
based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
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Executive branch:
chief of state: President Jacob ZUMA (since 9 May
2009); Executive Deputy President Kgalema MOTLANTHE (since 11
May 2009); note - the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
head of government: President Jacob ZUMA (since 9 May 2009); Executive Deputy President Kgalema MOTLANTHE (since 11 May 2009) 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 6 May 2009 (next to be held in 2014) election results: Jacob ZUMA elected president; National Assembly vote - Jacob ZUMA 277, Mvume DANDALA 47, other 76 |
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Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Council of
Provinces (90 seats, 10 members elected by each of the nine
provincial legislatures for five-year terms; has special powers
to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of
cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities) and
the National Assembly (400 seats; members are elected by popular
vote under a system of proportional representation to serve
five-year terms); note - following the implementation of the new
constitution on 4 February 1997, the former Senate was disbanded
and replaced by the National Council of Provinces with
essentially no change in membership and party affiliations,
although the new institution's responsibilities have been
changed somewhat by the new constitution
elections: National Assembly and National Council of Provinces - last held on 22 April 2009 (next to be held in April 2014) election results: National Council of Provinces - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; National Assembly - percent of vote by party - ANC 65.9%, DA 16.7%, COPE 7.4%, IFP 4.6%, other 5.4%; seats by party - ANC 264, DA 67, COPE 30, IFP 18, other 21 |
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Judicial branch:
Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts;
Magistrate Courts
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Political parties and leaders:
African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE];
African National Congress or ANC [Jacob ZUMA]; Congress of the
People or COPE [Mosiuoa LEKOTA]; Democratic Alliance or DA
[Helen ZILLE]; Freedom Front Plus or FF+ [Pieter MULDER];
Independent Democrats or ID [Patricia DE LILLE]; Inkatha Freedom
Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI]; Pan-Africanist Congress or
PAC [Motsoko PHEKO]; United Christian Democratic Party or UCDP
[Lucas MANGOPE]; United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu
HOLOMISA]
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
Congress of South African Trade Unions or COSATU [Zwelinzima
VAVI, general secretary]; South African Communist Party or SACP
[Blade NZIMANDE, general secretary]; South African National
Civics Organization or SANCO [Mlungisi HLONGWANE, national
president]
note: note - COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance
with the ANC
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International organization participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, BIS, C, FAO, G-20, 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, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Welile Augustine NHLAPO
chancery: 3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 232-4400 FAX: [1] (202) 265-1607 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Eric BOST
embassy: 877 Pretorius Street, Pretoria mailing address: P. O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001 telephone: [27] (12) 431-4000 FAX: [27] (12) 342-2299 consulate(s) general: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg |
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Flag description:
two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated
by a central green band that 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
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| Economy | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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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
is 17th largest in the world; and modern infrastructure supporting
an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout
the region. Growth was robust from 2004 to 2008 as South Africa
reaped the benefits of macroeconomic stability and a global
commodities boom, but began to slow in the second half of 2008 due
to the global financial crisis' impact on commodity prices and
demand. However, unemployment remains high and outdated
infrastructure has constrained growth. At the end of 2007, South
Africa began to experience an electricity crisis because state power
supplier Eskom suffered supply problems with aged plants,
necessitating "load-shedding" cuts to residents and businesses in
the major cities. Daunting economic problems remain from the
apartheid era - especially poverty, lack of economic empowerment
among the disadvantaged groups, and a shortage of public
transportation. South African economic policy is fiscally
conservative but pragmatic, focusing on controlling inflation,
maintaining a budget surplus, and using state-owned enterprises to
deliver basic services to low-income areas as a means to increase
job growth and household income.
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GDP (purchasing power parity):
$489.7 billion (2008 est.)
$476.4 billion (2007) $453.3 billion (2006) note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
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GDP (official exchange rate):
$300.4 billion (2008 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate:
2.8% (2008 est.)
5.1% (2007 est.) 5.3% (2006 est.) |
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GDP - per capita (PPP):
$10,000 (2008 est.)
$9,800 (2007 est.) $9,500 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
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GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.4%
industry: 31.3% services: 65.3% (2008 est.) |
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Labor force:
18.22 million economically active (2008 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 26% services: 65% (2007 est.) |
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Unemployment rate:
21.7% (2008 est.) 24.3% (2007 est.)
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Population below poverty line:
50% (2000 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage
share:
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 44.7% (2000 est.) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
65 (2005)
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Investment (gross fixed):
20.1% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Budget:
revenues: $83.85 billion
expenditures: $83.3 billion (2008 est.) |
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Public debt:
29.9% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
11.3% (2008 est.) 6.5% (2007 est.)
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Central bank discount rate:
11.5% (31 December 2008) 11% (31 December 2007)
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Commercial bank prime lending rate:
NA% (31 December 2008) 13.17% (31 December 2007)
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Stock of money:
$43.99 billion (31 December 2008) $58.49 billion (31 December
2007)
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Stock of quasi money:
$124.4 billion (31 December 2008) $141.9 billion (31 December
2007)
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Stock of domestic credit:
$215.6 billion (31 December 2008) $254.9 billion (31 December
2007)
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Market value of publicly traded shares:
$842 billion (January 2008)
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Agriculture - products:
corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry,
mutton, wool, dairy products
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Industries:
mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium),
automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and
steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair
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Industrial production growth rate:
3.8% (2008 est.)
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Electricity - production:
264 billion kWh (2007)
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Electricity - consumption:
241.4 billion kWh (2007)
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Electricity - exports:
13.77 billion kWh (2006 est.)
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Electricity - imports:
11.32 billion kWh (2007)
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Oil - production:
199,100 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - consumption:
504,900 bbl/day (2006 est.)
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Oil - exports:
267,700 bbl/day (2005)
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Oil - imports:
319,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
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Oil - proved reserves:
15 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
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Natural gas - production:
2.9 billion cu m (2006 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption:
3.1 billion cu m (2006 est.)
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Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
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Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)
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Natural gas - proved reserves:
27.16 million cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
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Current account balance:
$-21.67 billion (2008 est.)
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Exports:
$81.47 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
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Exports - commodities:
gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery
and equipment
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Exports - partners:
US 11.9%, Japan 11.1%, Germany 8%, UK 7.7%, China 6.6%,
Netherlands 4.5% (2007)
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Imports:
$87.3 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
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Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products,
scientific instruments, foodstuffs
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Imports - partners:
Germany 10.9%, China 10%, Spain 8.2%, US 7.2%, Japan 6.1%, UK
4.5%, Saudi Arabia 4.2% (2007)
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$33.59 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
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Debt - external:
$39.69 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$99.61 billion (2008 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$57.08 billion (2008 est.)
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Exchange rates:
rand (ZAR) per US dollar - 7.9576 (2008 est.), 7.05 (2007),
6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004)
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| Communications | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
4.642 million (2007)
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
42.3 million (2007)
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Telephone system:
general assessment: the system is the best developed
and most modern in Africa
domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is nearly 110 telephones per 100 persons; 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; the SAT-3/WASC and SAFE fiber optic cable systems connect South Africa to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean) |
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Radio broadcast stations:
AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)
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Television broadcast stations:
556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)
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Internet country code:
.za
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Internet hosts:
1.297 million (2008)
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Internet users:
5.1 million (2005)
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| Transportation | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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Airports:
636 (2008)
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Airports - with paved runways:
total: 146
over 3,047 m: 10 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 52 914 to 1,523 m: 66 under 914 m: 13 (2008) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 490
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 31 914 to 1,523 m: 312 under 914 m: 145 (2008) |
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Heliports:
1 (2007)
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Pipelines:
condensate 11 km; gas 908 km; oil 980 km; refined products 1,379
km (2008)
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Railways:
total: 20,872 km
narrow gauge: 20,436 km 1.065-m gauge (8,271 km electrified); 436 km 0.610-m gauge (2008) |
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Roadways:
total: 362,099 km
paved: 73,506 km (includes 239 km of expressways) unpaved: 288,593 km (2002) |
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Merchant marine:
total: 3
by type: container 1, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1) registered in other countries: 8 (Bahamas 1, Nigeria 1, NZ 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Seychelles 1, UK 3) (2008) |
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Ports and terminals:
Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay
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| Military | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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Military branches:
South African National Defense Force (SANDF): South African Army,
South African Navy (SAN), South African Air Force (SAAF), Joint
Operations Command, Military Intelligence, South African Military
Health Services (2009)
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Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; women are
eligible to serve in noncombat roles; 2-year service obligation
(2007)
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Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 11,622,507
females age 16-49: 11,501,537 (2008 est.) |
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Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 7,641,557
females age 16-49: 6,518,793 (2009 est.) |
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Manpower reaching militarily significant age
annually:
male: 511,616
female: 510,540 (2009 est.) |
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Military expenditures:
1.7% of GDP (2006)
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Military - note:
with the end of apartheid and the establishment of majority
rule, former military, black homelands forces, and ex-opposition
forces were integrated into the South African National Defense
Force (SANDF); as of 2003 the integration process was considered
complete
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| Transnational Issues | Southafrica | Top of Page |
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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
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Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 10,772 (Democratic Republic of Congo); 7,818 (Somalia); 5,759 (Angola) (2007) |
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Trafficking in persons:
current situation: South Africa is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; women and girls are trafficked internally - and occasionally to European and Asian countries - for sexual exploitation; women from other African countries are trafficked to South Africa and, less frequently, onward to Europe for sexual exploitation; men and boys are trafficked from neighboring countries for forced agricultural labor; Asian and Eastern European women are trafficked to South Africa for debt-bonded sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - South Africa is on the Tier 2 Watch List for a fourth consecutive year for its failure to show increasing efforts to address trafficking; the government provided inadequate data in 2007 on trafficking crimes investigated or prosecuted, or on resulting convictions or sentences; it also did not provide information on its efforts to protect victims of trafficking; the country continues to deport and/or prosecute suspected foreign victims without providing appropriate protective services (2008) |
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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
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This page was last updated on 14 May 2009