South Africa: Fact file
| Name | Republic of South Africa |
| Area | 1 219 090 km2 (South African Government undated) |
| 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 | 47 208 000, (UNDP 2006) |
| Pop growth rate | 0.1%, 2004-15 (UNDP 2006) |
| Urbanisation | 58.8%, 2004 (UNDP 2006) |
| Life expectancy | Female 48.2 yrs, male 45.7 yrs, 2004 (UNDP 2006) |
| Infant mortality | 54/1000, 2004 (UNDP 2006) |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence | 18.8%, 2006 (UNAIDS 2006) |
| Adult literacy rate | Female 80.91%, male 84.1%, 2004 (UNDP 2006) |
| Legal system | Roman-Dutch law, English common law (africa in sight undated) |
| Independence | 31 May 1910 |
| GDP | US$256.454 billion, 2006 est (IMF 2006) |
| GDP per capita | US$5 411.44, 2006 est (IMF 2006) |
| GDP growth rate | 4.2%, 2006 est (IMF 2006) |
| Main exports | Diamonds, gold, base metals, minerals, fruit, machinery (South African Government undated) |
| Currency | 1 rand = 100 cents |
| Unemployment | 28.2%, 2003 (South African Government undated) |
| Inflation rate | 4.6%, 2006 est (IMF 2006) |
| External debt ratio | 2% of GDP, 2006 (IMF 2007) |
| 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
AFRICA IN SIGHT UNDATED "Legal System", [www] Legal System (AI) [opens new window].
ETHNOLOGUE.COM UNDATED "Languages of Senegal" [www] http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=SN [opens new window].
IMF 2007 Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa, [www] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2007/AFR/ENG/sreo0407.pdf, 100 [PDF document, opens new window].
IMF 2006 World Economic Outlook Database, [www] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2006/02/data/index.aspx [opens new window].
SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT UNDATED "The land and its people", http://www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/landpeople.htm [opens new window].
STATISTICS SOUTH AFRICA 2001 "Dominant Home Language", [www] http://www.statssa.gov.za/census2001/digiAtlas/stats/stats_langdom_national.html [opens new window].
UNAIDS 2006 "South Africa", [www] http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/Countries/south_africa.asp [opens in window].
UNDP 2006 "South Africa", IN Human Development Report 2006, [www] http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_ZAF.html [opens new window].