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South Africa
Location: Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Geographic co-ordinates: 29 00 S, 24 00 E
Area: 1,219,912 sq. km
Land boundaries: 4,750 km
Border countries: 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
Lowest point: sea level
Highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m
Main natural resources: gold, chromium, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, natural gas
Natural hazards: prolonged droughts
Environment: lacks important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures
Population: 43,586,200 approx. (census being taken, expected result in 2003)
Ethnic groups: black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Coloured 8.6%, Indian 2.6%
Religions: Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloureds, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%
Languages: 11 official languages; Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Zulu, Xhosa
Country name: Republic of South Africa
Short form: South Africa
Abbreviation: RSA
Internet: ZA
Formerly: Union of South Africa
Independence date: 31 May 1961 from UK
Government type: Republic
Capital: Pretoria; Cape Town - legislative and Bloemfontein - judicial
Provinces (9); Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Northern Province, Western Cape
National holiday: Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)
Constitution: (Click for full report) 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
Head of government: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Jacob ZUMA (since 17 June 1999)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 2 June 1999. Next scheduled for sometime between May and July 2004.
Election results: Click for full report
GDP: purchasing power parity - $369 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5%
Industry: 30%
Population below poverty line: 50% (2000 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.3% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 17 million economically active (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 30% (2000 est.)
Agriculture products: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products
Exports: $30.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports: gold, diamonds, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment
Exports - partners: UK, Italy, Japan, US, Germany
Imports: $27.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery, foodstuffs and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments
Imports - partners: Germany, US, UK, Japan
Debt - external: $25.6 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $676.3 million
Currency: Rand (ZAR)
Currency code: ZAR
Exchange rates: Rand per US dollar - 9.24 (October 2001), 7.60 (March 2001), 6.93 (2000), 6.10 (1999), 5.52 (1998), 4.60 (1997), 4.29 (1996)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Telephones - main lines in use: 5.075 million (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: over 2,000,000 (1999)
Mobile cellular service providers (3): Vodacom, MTN, C cell
Telephone system: the best developed and most modern in Africa
International: 2 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 13.75 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 6.6 million
Internet country code: .za
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 50 approx.
Internet users: 2.1 million approx.
Railways: 21,431 km
Highways: total: 358,596 km
Pipelines: crude oil 931 km; petroleum products 1,748 km; natural gas 322 km
Ports and harbors: Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mosselbaai, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay
Merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 271,650 GRT/268,604 DWT
Ships by type: container 6, petroleum tanker 2 (2000 est.)
Airports: 741 (2000 est.)
Military branches: South African National Defense Force or SANDF (includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Medical Services)
Police: South African Police Services
 South African Tourism has several offices throughout the world. For information not available here, contact the nearest office:
OFFICES
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