- Population (mid-2010): 49.99-million
- Measures: metric system
- Currency: One rand (R) = 100 cents
- Time: Two hours ahead of GMT
- Internet domain: .co.za
Geography:
- Area: 1 219 090 square kilometres
- Agriculture: 81.6% of total land area
- Arable land: 12.1% of total
- Irrigated land: 10.15% of arable land
Capitals:
Pretoria (administrative)
Cape Town (legislative)
Bloemfontein (judicial)
Provinces:
- Eastern Cape
- Gauteng
- KwaZulu-Natal
- Mpumulanga
- Northern Cape
- Limpopo
- North West
- Free State
- Western Cape
Economy:
Real GDP growth rate (2009): -1.8%
Consumer inflation rate (March 2010): 5.1% y/y
Producer inflation rate (March 2010): 3.7% y/y
Prime overdraft lending rate of banks (April 2010): 10%
Unemployment (fourth quarter 2009): 24.3%
Geography and climate
South Africa is a medium-sized country, with a total land area of 1 219 090 square kilometres, or roughly equivalent in size to Niger, Angola, Mali or Colombia. It is one-eighth the size of the US, about a third the size of the European Union, twice the size of France and over three times the size of Germany. It measures some 1 600km from north to south, and roughly the same from east to west.
The country lies between 22º and 35º south, flanked on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by the Indian Ocean, whose waters meet at the country's – and Africa's – most southern tip, Cape Agulhas.
The coastline stretches 2 798 kilometres from a desert border in the northwest, down the icy Skeleton Coast to Cape Agulhas, then up along the green hills and wide beaches on the coast of the Indian Ocean, to a border with subtropical Mozambique in the northeast.
The low-lying coastal zone is narrow for much of that distance, soon giving way to a mountainous escarpment that separates it from the high inland plateau.
A subtropical location, moderated by ocean on three sides of the country and the altitude of the interior plateau, makes South Africa a warm and sunny country. But it's also dry, with an average annual rainfall of about 464mm. While the Western Cape gets most of its rainfall in winter, the rest of the country is mostly a summer-rainfall region.
Population
South Africa is a nation of diversity, with 49.32-million people and a variety of cultures, languages and religious beliefs. According to Statistics South Africa's mid-2009 estimates, the country's population stands at 49 320 500 people.
Africans are in the majority at 39 136 200, making up 79.3% of the total population. The white population is estimated at 4 472 100 (9.1%), the coloured population at 4 433 100 (9%) and the Indian/Asian population at 1 279 100 (2.6%).
Females make up 52% of the population, and males 48%.
Democracy
South Africa is a vigorous multiparty democracy with an independent judiciary and a free and diverse press.
Until 1994, the country was known for apartheid – white-minority rule. South Africa's remarkable ability to put centuries of racial hatred behind it in favour of reconciliation was widely considered a social miracle, inspiring similar peace efforts in Northern Ireland, Rwanda and elsewhere.
The highest law of the land is the new Constitution, considered to be one of the most progressive in the world. The Constitution's Bill of Rights protects equality, freedom of expression and association, property, housing, healthcare, education, access to information, and access to courts. Protecting those rights is the country's independent judiciary, subject only to the Constitution and the law.
With 13 parties in Parliament, South Africa has a vibrant political system. The African National Congress is in the majority, but opposition parties remain robust and vocal. National elections have been held in 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009.
