South Africa




                                 Geography


Location:
     Southern Africa, at the extreme southern tip of the continent
Map references:
     Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     1,219,912 sq km
land area:
     1,219,912 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly less than twice the size of Texas
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:
continental shelf:
     200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
exclusive fishing zone:
     200 nm
territorial sea:
     12 nm
International disputes:
     the dispute with Namibia over Walvis Bay and 12 offshore islands has
     been resolved and these territories were transferred to Namibian
     sovereignty on 1 March 1994; 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 coast; sunny days, cool nights
Terrain:
     vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Natural resources:
     gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel,
     phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium,
     salt, natural gas
Land use:
arable land:
     10%
permanent crops:
     1%
meadows and pastures:
     65%
forest and woodland:
     3%
other:
     21%




Irrigated land:
     11,280 sq km (1989 est.)
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
natural hazards:
     subject to prolonged droughts
international agreements:
     party to - Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Marine Dumping,
     Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
     Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified -
     Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of
     the Sea
Note:
     South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely
     surrounds Swaziland


                                  People


Population:
     43,930,631 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     2.62% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     33.58 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     7.53 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     0.16 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     47.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     65.11 years
male:
     62.37 years
female:
     67.94 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     4.37 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     South African(s)
adjective:
     South African
Ethnic divisions:
     black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%
Religions:
     Christian (most whites and Coloreds and about 60% of blacks), Hindu
     (60% of Indians), Muslim 2%




Languages:
     eleven official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele,
     Pedi, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Literacy:
     age 15 and over can read and write (1980)
total population:
     76%
male:
     78%
female:
     75%
Labor force:
     13.4 million economically active (1990)
by occupation:
     services 35%, agriculture 30%, industry 20%, mining 9%, other 6%


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     Republic of South Africa
conventional short form:
Abbreviation:
     RSA
Digraph:
     SF
Type:
     republic
Capital:
     Pretoria (administrative); Cape Town (legislative);  Bloemfontein
     (judicial)
Administrative divisions:
     9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Eastern Transvaal, Kwa Zulu/Natal, Northern
     Cape, Northern Transvaal, Northwest, Orange Free State,
     Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging, Western Cape
note:
     previously the administrative divisions consisted of 4 provinces;
     Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal; there were 10 homelands not
     recognized by the US - 4 independent (Bophuthatswana, Ciskei,
     Transkei, Venda) and 6 other (Gazankulu, Kangwane, KwaNdebele,
     KwaZulu, Lebowa, QwaQwa)
Independence:
     31 May 1910 (from UK)
National holiday:
     Republic Day, 31 May (1910)
Constitution:
     27 April 1994 (interim constitution, replacing the constitution of 3
     September 1984)
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:
chief of state and head of government:
     Executive President Nelson MANDELA (since 10 May 1994); Deputy
     Executive President Frederik W. DE KLERK (since 10 May 1994); Deputy
     Executive President Thabo MBEKI (since 10 May 1994)
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
cabinet:
     Cabinet appointed by the Executive President
Legislative branch:
     bicameral
National Assembly:
     elections 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), Cyril RAMAPHOSA; National Party (NP),
     Frederik W. DE KLERK, president; Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP),
     Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI, president; Freedom Front (FF), Constand VILJOEN,
     president; Democratic Party (DP); Pan Africanist Congress (PAC),
     Clarence MAKWETU, president; African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)
note:
     in addition to these seven parties which won seats in the National
     Assembly, twelve other parties won votes in the national elections in
     April 1994
Other political or pressure groups:
     NA;;
Member of:
     BIS, CCC, ECA, GATT, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO (suspended), ICC, IDA,
     IFC, IMF, INTELSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU (suspended), LORCS, OAU, SACU, UN,
     UNCTAD, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO (suspended), ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Harry Heinz SCHWARZ
chancery:
     3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 232-4400
consulate(s) general:
     Beverly Hills (California), Chicago, and New York




US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Princeton N. LYMAN
embassy:
     877 Pretorius St., Arcadia 0083
mailing address:
     P.O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001
telephone:
     [27] (12) 342-1048
FAX:
     [27] (12) 342-2244 or 2299
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 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 UK adjoining on the hoist side and a horizontal flag of the old
     Transvaal Republic adjoining on the other side


                                  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 and to set the country on an
     aggressive export-led growth path. The shrinking 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.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $171 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     1.1% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $4,000 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     9.7% (1993 est.)




Unemployment rate:
     50% (1994 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $26.3 billion
expenditures:
     $34 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.5 billion (FY94
     est.)
Exports:
     $24.3 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities:
     gold 27%, other minerals and metals 20-25%, food 5%, chemicals 3%
partners:
     Italy, Japan, US, Germany, UK, other EC countries, Hong Kong
Imports:
     $18.1 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities:
     machinery 32%, transport equipment 15%, chemicals 11%, oil, textiles,
     scientific instruments
partners:
     Germany, US, Japan, UK, Italy
External debt:
     $17 billion (1993 est.)
Industrial production:
     growth rate NA%; accounts for about 40% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
     46,000,000 kW
production:
     180 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     4,100 kWh (1991)
Industries:
     mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium),
     automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel,
     chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs
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 of heroin and cocaine; cocaine consumption on the
     rise
Economic aid:
     many aid packages for the new government are still being prepared;
     current aid pledges include US $600 million over 3 years; UK $150
     million over 3 years; Australia $21 million over 3 years
Currency:
     1 rand (R) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
     rand (R) per US$1 - 3.4551 (March 1994), 3.2636 (1993), 2.8497 (1992),
     2.7563 (1991), 2.5863 (1990), 2.6166 (1989)
Fiscal year:
     1 April - 31 March






                              Communications


Railroads:
     20,638 km route distance total; 20,324 km of 1.067-meter gauge
     trackage (counts double and multiple tracking as single track); 314 km
     of 610 mm gauge; substantial electrification of 1.067 meter gauge
Highways:
total:
     188,309 km
paved:
     54,013 km
unpaved:
     crushed stone, gravel, improved earth 134,296 km
Pipelines:
     crude oil 931 km; petroleum products 1,748 km; natural gas 322 km
Ports:
     Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha, Mosselbaai
Merchant marine:
     5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 213,273 GRT/201,043 DWT,
     container 4, vehicle carrier 1
Airports:
total:
     886
usable:
     718
with permanent-surface runways:
     140
with runways over 3,659 m:
     5
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     10
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     213
Telecommunications:
     the system is the best developed, most modern, and has the highest
     capacity in Africa; it consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines,
     coaxial cables, radio relay links, fiber optic cable, and
     radiocommunication stations; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town,
     Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria; over 4,500,000
     telephones; broadcast stations - 14 AM, 286 FM, 67 TV; 1 submarine
     cable; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 2
     Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT


                              Defense Forces




Branches:
     the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) includes Army, Navy,
     Air Force, and Medical Services of the former South Africa, the armed
     forces of the former homelands, and the ANC and PAC military
     components; the initial strength of the SANDF has been set at about
     100,000 active duty members with plans to reduce it to about 40,000 by
     1997; it is manned mostly by nonwhites, but the higher officer grades
     are held by whites; the South African Police (SAP) have incorporated
     the police forces of the former homelands since the elections of 1994;
     a National Peacekeeping Force (NPKF) to ensure peaceful proceedures
     during the 1994 elections was established briefly from the military
     components of the principal political factions, but was dissolved on 2
     June 1994, following the elections.
Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 10,557,346; fit for military service 6,437,240; reach
     military age (18) annually 431,832 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     exchange rate conversion - $2.9 billion, about 2.5% of GDP (FY93
     budget)