1984 Edition

Agriculture

main crops — corn, wool, wheat, sugarcane, tobacco, citrus fruits; dairy products; self-sufficient in foodstuffs

Airfields

27 total, 27 usable; 1 with permanent surface runways; 3 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

867 total, 785 usable; 95 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m, 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 189 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Area

1 ,233,404 km2 (includes enclave of Walvis Bay, 1,124 km2; Transkei, 44,000 km2, and Bophuthatswana, 38,000 km2); 86% desert, waste, or urban; 12% cultivable; 2% forest

Branches

Army, Army Air Wing, Police Department

State President is formal chief of state; Prime Minister is head of government; Cabinet responsible to the legislature; unicameral legislature (House of Assembly) elected directly by white electorate; judiciary maintains substantial independence of government influence

Army, Navy, Air Force, Medical Services

Budget

FY1983/84 est— revenue $16.6 billion, current expenditures $18.4 billion

Capital

administrative, Pretoria; legislative, Cape Town; judicial, Bloemfontein

Civil air

1 major transport aircraft

82 major transport aircraft

Coastline

2,881 km, including Transkei People

46,670 km (incl. Sakhalin) People

Communists

small Communist Party illegal since 1950; party in exile maintains headquarters in London; Moses Mabhida, Joe Slovo

Elections

must be held at least every five years; last election April 1981 Political parties (white) and leaders: National Party, P. W. Botha; Progressive Federal Party, Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert; New Republic Party, Vause Raw; Conservative Party, Dr. Andries P. Treurnicht; Herstigte National Party, Jaap Marais

Electric power

25,000,000 kW capacity (1983); 118.0 billion kWh produced (1983), 3,815kWh per capita Soviet Union

Ethnic divisions

69.9% African, 17.8% white, 9.4% Colored, 2.9% Asian

52% Russian, 16% Ukrainian, 32% among over 100 other ethnic groups, according to 1979 census

Exports

$17.2 billion (f.o.b., 1982, including gold); wool, diamonds, corn, uranium, sugar, fruit, hides, skins, metals, metallic ores, asbestos, fish products; net gold output $8.6 billion (1982)

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March Communications

Fishing

catch 577,152 metric tons (1982)

GDP

$73.6 billion (1982), about $2,500 per capita; —1.2% real growth in 1982

Government leaders

Marais VILJOEN, State President; Pieter Willem BOTHA, Prime Minister

Highways

approx. 4,221 km total; 508 km paved; 1,585 km crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized soil; 946 km improved, 2,128 km unimproved earth

229,090 km total; 80,296 km paved, 148,794 km crushed stone, gravel, or improved earth

Imports

$16.7 billion (f.o.b., 1982); motor vehicles, machinery, metals, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals

Labor force

8.7 million economically active (1980); 53% agriculture, 8% manufacturing, 7% mining, 5% commerce, 27% miscellaneous services

Land boundaries

2,044 km Water

20,619 km Water

Language

Afrikaans, English (official); Africans have many vernacular languages, including Zulu, Xhosa, North and South Sotho, Tswana

Russian (official); more than 200 languages and dialects (at least 18 with more than 1 million speakers); 75% Slavic group, 8% other Indo-European, 12% Altaic, 3% Uralian, 2% Caucasian

Legal system

based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; constitution enacted 1961, changing the Union of South Africa into a republic; possibility of judicial review of Acts of Parliament concerning dual official languages; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (fishing 200 nm)

12 nm (200 nm fishing and economic)

Literacy

almost all white population literate; government estimates 50% of Africans literate

Major industries

mining, automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer

Major trade partners

US, FRG, Japan, UK, France; member of Southern African Customs Union

Member of

GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IHO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, INTELSAT, ISO, ITU, IWC — International Whaling Commission, IWC— International Wheat Council, UN, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG (membership rights in IAEA, ICAO, ITU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, and WMO suspended or restricted) Economy

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 March 1982, $13.2 million; 4.7% of central government budget

for year ending 31 March 1983, $3.1 billion; 17.9% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 335,000; 179,000 fit for military service

males 15-49, 5,946,000; 3,758,000 fit for military service; 272,000 reach military age (18) annually; obligation for service in Citizen Force or Commandos begins at 18; volunteers for service in permanent force must be 17; national service obligation is two years; figures do not include Bophuthatswana, Transkei, and Venda

Monetary conversion rate

1.22 SA rand = US$1 (30 December 1983)

National holiday

Republic Day, 31 May

Nationality

noun — South African(s); adjective — South African

noun — Soviet(s); adjective — Soviet

NOTE

The US Government does not recognize the incorporation of the Baltic States — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — into the Soviet Union. Land 22,402,076 km2; 35.5% forest, 16.8% pasture and hay, 10.2% cultivated, 37.5% other

Official name

Republic of South Africa

Organized labor

about 7% of total labor force is unionized (mostly white workers); relatively small African unions, representing about 1 % of black labor force Government

Other political groups

(insurgent groups in exile) African National Congress (ANC), Oliver Tambo; Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), John Pokela

Pipelines

836 km crude oil; 1,748 km refined products; 322 km natural gas

Political subdivisions

4 provinces, each headed by centrally appointed administrator; provincial councils, elected by white electorate, retain limited powers

Population

31,698,000 (July 1984), including Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei, and Venda; average annual growth rate 2.4%; Bophuthatswana 1,561, 000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 3.9%; Ciskei 675,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 1.6%; Transkei 2,861,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 3.4%; Venda 401,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 2.7%

274,860,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 0.9%

Ports

7 major (Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay, East London, and Mossel Bay)

Railroads

35,434 km total (includes Namibia); 34,728 km 1.067-meter gauge, of which 6,143 km are multiple track; 16,006 km electrified; 706 km 0.610-meter gauge single track

Religion

most whites and Coloreds and roughly 60% of Africans are Christian; roughly 60% of Asians are Hindu, 20% Mus-

18% Russian Orthodox, 9% Muslim, 3% Jewish, Protestant, Georgian Orthodox, or Roman Catholic; population is 70% atheist

Suffrage

general suffrage limited to whites over 18 (17 in Natal Province)

Telecommunications

system a modest one consisting of a few landlines, a small radio-relay system, and minor radiocommunication stations; 5,920 telephones (0.3 per 100 popl.); 2 AM and 2 FM stations; 1 TV station planned; Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces

the system is the best developed, most modern, and highest capacity in Africa and consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, radio-relay links, and radiocommunication stations; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria; 2.93 million telephones (12.1 per 100 popl.); 14 AM, 286 FM, and 67 main TV stations with 450 relay transmitters; 1 submarine cable; 1 satellite station with 1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean antennas Defense Forces

Type

republic

Voting strength

parliamentary seats — National Party, 1 15; Progressive Federal Party, 26; Conservative Party, 17; New Republic, 8