South Africa: Fact file
Updated April 2008
| Name | Republic of South Africa |
| Area | 1 219 090 sq km2 (Frame 2008, 1095) |
| Capitals | Tshwane (Pretoria, executive), Cape Town (legislative), Mangaung (Bloemfontein, judicial) |
| Major cities | Johannesburg, eThekwini (Durban), Ekurhuleni (East Rand), Nelson Mandela (Port Elizabeth), Buffalo City (East London), Pietermaritzburg, Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark |
| Boundaries | Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho (enclave) |
| Population | 47.9, 2005 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| Pop growth rate | 0.5%, 2005-15 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| Urbanisation | 59.3%, 2005 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| Life expectancy | Female 52.0 yrs, male 49.5 yrs, 2005 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| Infant mortality | 55/1000, 2005 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence | 18.8%, adult 15-45, 2007 (UNAIDS 2007) |
| Adult literacy rate | Female 80.9%, male 84.1%, 2005 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| Military expenditure | 1.5% of GDP; 2005 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| Health expenditure | 3.5% of GDP; 2004 (UNDP 2007/8) |
| Legal system | Roman-Dutch law, English common law (Barratt & Snyman 2005) |
| Independence | 31 May 1910 |
| GDP | US$282.63 billion, 2007 est (IMF 2008a) |
| GDP per capita | US$5 906, 2007 est (IMF 2008a) |
| GDP growth rate | 5.1%, 2007 est (IMF 2008a) |
| Main exports | Platinum, gold, diamonds, base metals, minerals, fruit, machinery (Frame 2008, 1100) |
| Currency | 100 cents = 1 Rand |
| Unemployment | 23%, 2007 (Statistics South Africa 2007) |
| Inflation rate | 7.1%, 2007 est (IMF 2008a) |
| External debt ratio | 1.8% of GDP, 2007 (IMF 2008b) |
| Roads | 5 300 km of single-carriage main, 440 km of single carriage freeway, 1 400 km dual-carriage freeway (SADC 2007, 221) |
| Rail | 30 400 km (SADC 2007, 221) |
| Airports | 10 major domestic, 3 international (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban) (SADC 2007, 221). |
| Ethnic groups | African 79%, White 9,6%, Coloured 8,9% and Indian/Asian 2,5% (South African Government undated) |
| Languages | Official: isiZulu (23,8%), isiXhosa (17,6%), Afrikaans (13,3%), Sepedi (9,4%), Setswana (8,2%), English (8,2%), Sesotho (7.9%), Xitsonga (4.4%), siSwati (2.7%), Tshivenda (2.3%) and isiNdebele (1,6%). Other languages are spoken by 0.5% of the population (Statistics South Africa 2001) |
| Religion | Christian 79.8%, No religion 15.1%, Islam 1.5% and Hinduism 1.2% (South African Government undated) |
References
BARRATT, A & SNYMAN, P 2005 "Researching South African Law" IN GlobaLex, [www] http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/South_Africa.htm [opens new window] (accessed 24 Apr 2008).
FRAME, I 2008 (ed) Africa South of the Sahara 2008, Routledge.
IMF 2008a World Economic Outlook Database, April 2008, [www] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/index.aspx [opens new window] (accessed 21 Apr 2008).
IMF 2008b Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa, [www] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2007/AFR/ENG/sreo0407.pdf, 118 [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 22 Apr 2008).
SADC 2007 "South Africa" IN Country Profiles, [www] http://www.sadcreview.com/pdfs07/southafrica2007_08.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 24 Apr 2008).
SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT UNDATED "The land and its people", http://www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/landpeople.htm [opens new window] (accessed 25 Apr 2008).
STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA 2001 "Dominant Home Language", [www] http://www.statssa.gov.za/census2001/digiAtlas/stats/stats_langdom_national.html [opens new window] (accessed 24 Apr 2008).
STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA 2007 "Key findings: P0210 - Labour Force Survey (LFS), September 2007", [www] http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/statskeyfindings.asp?PPN=P0210&SCH=4133 [opens new window] (accessed 24 Apr 2008).
UNAIDS 2007 "South Africa", [www] http://www.unaids.org/en/CountryResponses/Countries/south_africa.asp [opens in window] (accessed 24 Apr 2008).
UNDP 2007/8 "South Africa", IN Human Development Report 2007/8, [www] http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_ZAF.html [opens new window] (accessed 24 Apr 2008).
