South Africa--Communications

CIA FactbookThe World Factbook 1993: South Africa 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: 188,309 km total; 54,013 km paved, 134,296 km crushed stone, gravel, or improved earth

Pipelines: crude oil 931 km, petroleum products 1,748 km, natural gas 322 km

Ports: Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Richard's Bay, Saldanha, Mosselbaai, Walvis Bay

Merchant marine: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 213,708 GRT/201,043 DWT; includes 4 container, 1 vehicle carrier

Airports: total: 899 usable: 713 with permanent-surface runways: 136 with runways over 3,659 m: 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 221

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