|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Small Business (BC),
Vancouver, Canada |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
| |
|
Background: |
Dutch traders landed at the
southern tip of modern day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover
point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the East, founding
the city of Cape Town. 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), however, the British and the
Afrikaners, as the Boers became known, ruled together under the Union of
South Africa. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and
instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races.
The first multi-racial elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid and
ushered in black majority rule. |
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
Republic of South Africa
conventional short form: South Africa
former: Union of South Africa
abbreviation: RSA
|
|
Government type: |
republic |
|
Capital: |
name: Pretoria
(administrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 25 42 S, 28 13
E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC
during Standard Time)
note: Cape Town (legislative capital),
Bloemfontein (judicial capital) |
|
Administrative divisions: |
9 provinces, Eastern Cape, Free
State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape,
North-West, Western Cape |
|
Independence: |
31 May 1910 (Union of South
Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal,
and Orange Free State), 31 May 1961 (republic declared) 27 April 1994
(majority rule) |
|
National holiday: |
Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)
|
|
Constitution: |
10 December 1996, this new
constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996,
was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 December 1996, and entered into
effect on 4 February 1997 |
|
Legal system: |
based on Roman-Dutch law and
English common law |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age, universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state:
President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999), Executive Deputy President
Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since 23 June 2005), note - the president is both
the chief of state and head of government
head of government:
President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999), Executive Deputy President
Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since 23 June 2005)
cabinet: Cabinet
appointed by the president
elections: president elected by the
National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term),
election last held on 24 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009)
election results: Thabo MBEKI elected president, percent of
National Assembly vote - 100% (by acclamation) |
|
Legislative branch: |
bicameral Parliament consisting
of the National Assembly (400 seats, members are elected by popular vote
under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
and the National Council of Provinces (90 seats, 10 members elected by
each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms, has special
powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of
cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities), note -
following the implementation of the new constitution on 4 February 1997,
the former Senate was disbanded and replaced by the National Council of
Provinces with essentially no change in membership and party affiliations,
although the new institution`s responsibilities have been changed somewhat
by the new constitution
elections: National Assembly and
National Council of Provinces - last held on 14 April 2004 (next to be
held in 2009)
election results: National Assembly - percent of
vote by party - ANC 69.7%, DA 12.4%, IFP 7%, UDM 2.3%, NNP 1.7%, ACDP
1.6%, other 5.3%, seats by party - ANC 279, DA 50, IFP 28, UDM 9, NNP 7,
ACDP 6, other 21, National Council of Provinces - percent of vote by party
- NA, seats by party - NA |
|
Judicial branch: |
Constitutional Court, Supreme
Court of Appeals, High Courts, Magistrate Courts |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
African Christian Democratic
Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE], African National Congress or ANC [Jacob
ZUMA], Democratic Alliance or DA [Helen ZILLE], Freedom Front Plus or FF+
[Pieter MULDER], Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI], New
National Party or NNP, Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Motsoko PHEKO],
United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu HOLOMISA] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Congress of South African Trade
Unions or COSATU [Zwelinzima VAVI, general secretary], South African
Communist Party or SACP [Blade NZIMANDE, general secretary], South African
National Civics Organization or SANCO [Mlungisi HLONGWANE, national
president], note - COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance with the ANC
|
|
International organization participation: |
ACP, AfDB, AU, BIS, C, FAO,
G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO,
ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA,
MONUC, NAM, NSG, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UN Security Council
(temporary), UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNWTO,
UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Welile Augustine NHLAPO
chancery: 3051 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 232-4400
FAX: [1] (202) 265-1607
consulate(s) general:
Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Eric BOST
embassy: 877 Pretorius Street, Pretoria
mailing address: P. O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001
telephone: [27] (12) 342-1048
FAX: [27] (12)
342-2244
consulate(s) general: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg
|
|
Flag description: |
two equal width horizontal
bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band that splits
into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist
side, the Y embraces a black isosceles 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 |
|
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 is 17th largest in the world, and
modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to
major urban centers throughout the region. Growth has been robust since
2004, as South Africa has reaped the benefits of macroeconomic stability
and a global commodities boom. However, unemployment remains high and
outdated infrastructure has constrained growth. At the end of 2007, South
Africa began to experience an electricity crisis because state power
supplier Eskom suffered supply problems with aged plants, necessitating
"load-shedding" cuts to residents and businesses in the major cities.
Daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era - especially
poverty, lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups, and
a shortage of public transportation. South African economic policy is
fiscally conservative but pragmatic, focusing on controlling inflation,
maintaining a budget surplus, and using state-owned enterprises to deliver
basic services to low-income areas as a means to increase job growth and
household income. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$467.6 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$274.5 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
5% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$10,600 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 2.2%
industry: 27%
services: 70.9% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
20.49 million economically
active (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 26%
services: 65% (2007 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
24.2% (2007 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
50% (2000 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 44.7% (2000) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
65 (2005) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
6.5% (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
21% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $68.2 billion
expenditures: $66.7 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
28% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
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, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs,
commercial ship repair |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
6.2% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
264 billion kWh (2007) |
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 93.5%
hydro: 1.1%
nuclear: 5.5%
other: 0%
(2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
241.4 billion kWh (2007) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
13.42 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
11.32 billion kWh (2007) |
|
Oil - production: |
200,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
519,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
217,700 bbl/day (2004) |
|
Oil - imports: |
319,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
15 million bbl (1 January 2007
est.) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
2.11 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
2.11 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
0 cu m (2005 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports: |
0 cu m (2005) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
27.16 million cu m (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
-$20.06 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$71.52 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
gold, diamonds, platinum, other
metals and minerals, machinery and equipment |
|
Exports - partners: |
Japan 12.1%, US 11.8%, UK 9%,
Germany 7.6%, Netherlands 5.3%, China 4% (2006) |
|
Imports: |
$76.59 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment,
chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs |
|
Imports - partners: |
Germany 12.6%, China 10%, US
7.6%, Japan 6.6%, Saudi Arabia 5.3%, UK 5% (2006) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
$700 million (2005) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$32.98 billion (31 December
2007) |
|
Debt - external: |
$64.8 billion (30 September
2007) |
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$90.4 billion (2006) |
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$52.35 billion (2006) |
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$842 billion (January 2008)
|
|
Currency (code): |
rand (ZAR) |
|
Currency code: |
ZAR |
|
Exchange rates: |
rand per US dollar - 7.05
(2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003) |
|
Fiscal year: |
1 April - 31 March
|
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
4.729 million (2005) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
39.66 million (2006) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment: the
system is the best developed and most modern in Africa
domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity
roughly 100 telephones per 100 persons, 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, the
SAT-3/WASC and SAFE fiber optic cable systems connect in South Africa
providing connectivity to Europe and Asia, satellite earth stations - 3
Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean) |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243
repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998) |
|
Radios: |
17 million (2001) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
556 (plus 144 network
repeaters) (1997) |
|
Televisions: |
6 million (2000) |
|
Internet country code: |
.za |
|
Internet hosts: |
1.088 million (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
150 (2001) |
|
Internet users: |
5.1 million (2005)
|
|
Airports: |
728 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 146
over
3,047 m: 10
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
1,524 to 2,437
m: 51
914 to 1,523 m: 67
under 914 m: 13 (2007)
|
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 582
1,524
to 2,437 m: 34
914 to 1,523 m: 300
under 914 m:
248 (2007) |
|
Heliports: |
1 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
condensate 100 km, gas 1,177
km, oil 992 km, refined products 1,379 km (2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 20,872 km
narrow gauge: 20,436 km 1.065-m gauge (8,931 km electrified),
436 km 0.610-m gauge (2006) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 362,099 km
paved: 73,506 km (includes 239 km of expressways)
unpaved: 288,593 km (2002) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 2 ships (1000 GRT
or over) 28,722 GRT/32,226 DWT
by type: container 1, petroleum
tanker 1
foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1)
registered in
other countries: 6 (Bahamas 1, Seychelles 1, UK 4, unknown 1) (2007)
|
|
Ports and terminals: |
Cape Town, Durban, Port
Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay |
|
Disputes - international: |
South Africa has placed
military along the border to apprehend the thousands of Zimbabweans
fleeing economic dysfunction and political persecution, as of January
2007, South Africa also supports large numbers of refugees and asylum
seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (33,000), Somalia
(20,000), Burundi (6,500), and other states in Africa (26,000), managed
dispute with Namibia over the location of the boundary in the Orange
River, in 2006, Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts of
Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons: |
refugees (country of
origin): 10,609 (Democratic Republic of Congo), 7,548 (Somalia), 5,764
(Angola) (2006) |
|
Trafficking in persons: |
current situation: South
Africa is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation, women and
girls are trafficked internally - and occasionally to European and Asian
countries - for sexual exploitation, women from other African countries
are trafficked to South Africa and, less frequently, onward to Europe for
sexual exploitation, men and boys are trafficked from neighboring
countries for forced agricultural labor, Asian and Eastern European women
are trafficked to South Africa for debt-bonded sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - South Africa is placed on the
Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show increasing efforts to address
trafficking in 2005 |
|
Illicit drugs: |
transshipment center for
heroin, hashish, and cocaine, as well as a major cultivator of marijuana
in its own right, cocaine and heroin consumption on the rise, world`s
largest market for illicit methaqualone, usually imported illegally from
India through various east African countries, but increasingly producing
its own synthetic drugs for domestic consumption, attractive venue for
money launderers given the increasing level of organized criminal and
narcotics activity in the region and the size of the South African economy
|
| | | | |
