1996 Edition

Description

two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal 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

Location

29 00 S, 24 00 E -- Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Flag ----

Area

comparative area

slightly less than twice the size of Texas

land area

1,219,912 sq km

note

includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island)

total area

1,219,912 sq km

Climate

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

Coastline

2,798 km

Environment

current issues

lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures; growth in water usage threatens to outpace supply; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge; air pollution resulting in acid rain; soil erosion; desertification

international agreements

party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea

natural hazards

prolonged droughts

Geographic coordinates

29 00 S, 24 00 E

Geographic note

South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland

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

Irrigated land

11,280 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

border countries

Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 855 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km

total

4,750 km

Land use

arable land

10%

forest and woodland

3%

meadows and pastures

65%

other

21%

permanent crops

1%

Location

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

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

continental shelf

200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive fishing zone

200 nm

territorial sea

12 nm

Natural resources

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

Terrain

vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain

highest point

Njesuthi 3,408 m

lowest point

Atlantic Ocean 0 m

Age structure

0-14 years: 36% (male 7,578,639; female 7,428,123) 15-64 years: 60% (male 12,356,753; female 12,516,467) 65 years and over: 4% (male 744,806; female 1,118,671) (July 1996 est.)

Birth rate

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

Death rate

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

Ethnic divisions

black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%

Infant mortality rate

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

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

female

61.8 years (1996 est.)

male

57.21 years

total population

59.47 years

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)

female

81.7%

male

81.9%

total population

81.8%

Nationality

adjective

South African

noun

South African(s)

Net migration rate

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

Population

41,743,459 (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate

1.76% (1996 est.)

Religions

Christian (most whites and Coloreds and about 60% of blacks), Hindu (60% of Indians), Muslim 2%

Sex ratio

all ages

0.98 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

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

Total fertility rate

3.43 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Administrative divisions

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

Capital

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

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

Data code

SF

Diplomatic representation in US

chancery

3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

chief of mission

Ambassador Franklin SONN

consulate(s) general

Beverly Hills (California), Chicago, and New York

telephone

[1] (202) 232-4400

Executive branch

cabinet

Cabinet was appointed by the president

chief of state and head of government

President Nelson MANDELA (since 10 May 1994); Deputy Executive Presidents Thabo MBEKI (since 10 May 1994) and Frederik W. DE KLERK (since 10 May 1994) were elected by the National Assembly

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)

FAX

[27] (12) 342-2244

consulate(s) general

Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg

Flag

two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal 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 UK adjoining on the hoist side and a horizontal flag of the old Transvaal Republic adjoining on the other side

Independence

31 May 1910 (from UK)

International organization participation

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

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

bicameral

Name of country

abbreviation

RSA

conventional long form

Republic of South Africa

conventional short form

South Africa

National Assembly

elections last held 26-29 April 1994 (next to be held NA April 1999); 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

National holiday

Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)

Other political or pressure groups

NA

Political parties and leaders

African National Congress (ANC), Nelson MANDELA, president; National Party (NP), Frederik W. DE KLERK, 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

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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type of government

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission

Ambassador James A. JOSEPH

embassy

877 Pretorius St., Arcadia 0083

mailing address

P.O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001

telephone

[27] (12) 342-1048

Agriculture

corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; cattle, poultry, sheep, wool, milk, beef

Budget

expenditures

$38 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.6 billion (FY94/95 est.)

revenues

$30.5 billion

Currency

1 rand (R) = 100 cents

Economic aid

note

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

recipient

ODA, $NA

Economic 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 a steady 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.

Electricity

capacity

39,750,000 kW

consumption per capita

3,482 kWh (1993)

production

163 billion kWh

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)

Exports

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

commodities

gold 27%, other minerals and metals 20%-25%, food 5%, chemicals 3% (1994)

partners

Italy, Japan, US, Germany, UK, other EU countries, Hong Kong

External debt

$22 billion (1995 est.)

Fiscal year

1 April - 31 March

GDP

purchasing power parity - $215 billion (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector

agriculture

NA%

industry

NA%

services

NA%

GDP per capita

$4,800 (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate

3.3% (1995 est.)

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; illicit cultivation of marijuana

Imports

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

commodities

machinery 32%, transport equipment 15%, chemicals 11%, oil, textiles, scientific instruments (1994)

partners

Germany, US, Japan, UK, Italy

Industrial production growth rate

NA%

Industries

mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

8.7% (1995)

Labor force

14.2 million economically active (1996)

by occupation

services 35%, agriculture 30%, industry 20%, mining 9%, other 6%

Unemployment rate

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

Branches

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

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $2.9 billion, 2.2% of GDP (FY95/96)

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 (1996 est.)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 14, FM 286, shortwave 0

Radios

12.1 million (1992 est.)

Telephone system

the system is the best developed, most modern, and has the highest capacity in Africa

domestic

consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, and radiotelephone communication stations; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria

international

1 submarine cable; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)

Telephones

5,206,235 (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations

67 (1987 est.)

Televisions

3.45 million (1990 est.) Defense

Airports

total

667

with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m

44

with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m

4

with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m

75

with paved runways over 3 047 m

10

with paved runways under 914 m

221

with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m

33

with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m

280 (1995 est.)

Highways

paved

55,428 km (including 2,040 km of expressways)

total

182,329 km

unpaved

126,901 km (1991 est.)

Merchant marine

total

4 container ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 211,276 GRT/198,602 DWT (1995 est.)

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

Railways

narrow gauge

20,995 km 1.067-m gauge (9,087 km electrified); 436 km 0.610-m gauge (1995)

total

21,431 km