South Africa
|
Background |
|
After the British seized the Cape of Good
Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the
Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The
discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred
wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation
of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British
encroachments, but were defeated in the Boer War
(1899-1902). The resulting Union of South Africa
operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate
development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to
apartheid politically and ushered in black majority
rule. |
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|
People |
|
Population: |
42,718,530 |
| Age
Structure: |
0-14 years:
29.5%
(male 6,337,468; female 6,254,925)
15-64 years:
65.3%
(male 13,898,269; female 14,017,559)
65 years and over: 5.2%
(male 886,801; female 1,323,508) |
| Median
Age: |
Total:
24.7 years
male: 24.2 years
female: 25.3 years |
| HIV/AIDS
-adult prevalence rate: |
21.5% |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with aids |
5.3 million |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths |
370,000 |
|
Nationality: |
Noun:
South African(s)
adjective: South African |
| Ethnic
Groups: |
Black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%,
Indian 2.6% |
|
Religions: |
Christian 68% (includes most whites and
Coloreds, 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, including
Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga,
Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu |
|
Literacy: |
Definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male:
87%
female: 85.7% |
| |
|
|
Communications: |
|
Telephones - main line in use: |
4.844 million |
|
Telephones - mobile/cellular: |
16.86 million |
|
Telephone System: |
General assessment:
the system is the best developed and most modern in
Africa
domestic: consists of carrier-equipped open-wire
lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links,
fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication
stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are
Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port
Elizabeth, and Pretoria
international: country code - 27; 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),
short-wave 1 (1998) |
|
Television Broadcast Stations: |
556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)
|
| Internet
Country Code: |
.za |
|
Internet Hosts: |
288,633 |
|
Internet Users: |
3.1 million |
| |
|
|
Economy: |
|
Economy Overview: |
South Africa is a middle-income, emerging
market with an abundant supply of natural resources;
well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy,
and transport sectors; a stock exchange that ranks among
the 10 largest in the world; and a modern infrastructure
supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major
urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has
not been strong enough to lower South Africa's high
unemployment rate; and daunting economic problems remain
from the apartheid era, especially poverty and lack of
economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups.
High crime and HIV/AIDS infection rates also deter
investment. South African economic policy is fiscally
conservative, but pragmatic, focusing on targeting
inflation and liberalizing trade as means to increase
job growth and household income. |
|
GDP: |
Purchasing power parity - $456.7 billion
|
|
GDP - Real Growth Rate: |
1.9% |
|
GDP - per Capita: |
Purchasing power parity - $10,700
|
|
GDP - Composition by Sector: |
Agriculture:
3.8%
industry: 31%
services: 65.2% |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
16% of GDP |
|
Population below poverty line: |
50% |
|
Inflation Rate: |
5.9% |
| Labor
Force: |
16.35 million economically active
|
|
Labor Force by Occupation: |
Agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services
45% |
|
Unemployment Rate: |
31% (includes workers no longer looking
for employment) |
|
Budget: |
Revenues:
$37.48 billion
expenditures: $41.46 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA billion |
|
Public Debt: |
38.2% of GDP |
|
Agriculture Products: |
Corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits,
vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products
|
|
Industries: |
Mining (world's largest producer of
platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly,
metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel,
chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs |
|
Industrial Production Growth Rate: |
5% |
|
Exports: |
$36.77 billion f.o.b. |
|
Exports - commodities: |
Gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals
and minerals, machinery and equipment |
|
Exports - Partners: |
UK 12.6%, US 12.4%, Japan 9.2%, Germany
8.1%, China 4.7%, Italy 4.4% |
|
Imports: |
$33.89 billion f.o.b. |
|
Imports - commodities: |
Machinery and equipment, chemicals,
petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs
|
|
Imports - Partners: |
Germany 16.6%, UK 8.5%, US 8.2%, Japan
5.9%, China 5.9%, Saudi Arabia 5.2%, France 5%
|
|
Reserves of Foreign Exchange & Gold: |
$7.972 billion |
|
Debt External: |
$25.9 billion |
|
Economic Aid Recipient: |
$487.5 million |
|
Currency: |
Rand (ZAR) |
|
Exchange Rates: |
Rand per US dollar - 7.5648 (2003),
10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1095
(1999) |
|
Fiscal Year: |
1 April - 31 March |
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