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 | SOUTH AFRICA[Suid-Afrika] : general data of the country |
| General useful information |
| Note: some data are of constant value, while other are due to changes, fluctuations etc. |
| Nation and population |
| official name (short form): South Africa ; Suid-Afrika |
| country code ISO: ZA //; - FIPS: SF |
| location: Southern Africa |
| time zone: +2 UT |
| surface (land) area: 1219090 sq.km = 470693 sq.mi //; - area incl. inland waters: sq.km = sq.mi |
| geographical position in extreme co-ordinates: North: 22° S / South: 35° S / East: 33° E / West: 16° E |
| borders (land): Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho |
| borders (coastline): Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean |
| climate: warm temperate |
| Government |
| independent since: 1910-05-31 ; 1934 ; 1961-05-31 |
| type of government: republic |
| capital: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town [Kaapstad] (legislative) |
| administrative division: province (9) |
| Population |
| population according to the last two censuses (1991): 30986,922; (1996): 40583,573 |
| total population according to the estimate of midyear 2000: 43421,021; or: 42801,000 /-; 2001: 43681,000 |
| population density: 36 per sq.km = 93 per sq.mi |
| population growth: 3% //; - doubling time: years |
| birth rate: 21 - 28 per 1000 |
| death rate: 10 - 17 per 1000 |
| fertility rate: 3,5 children per female |
| maternal mortality: 83 per 100,000 (figures for urban areas only) |
| infant mortality (1-4 years): 49 per 1000 |
| life expectancy: 48 years (male: 48; female: 49) |
| age breakdown: 0-14 years: 37% //; - 15-59 years: 57% //; - 60+ years: 6% |
| urbanisation: 48 - 60% //; - urbanisation growth: 3% |
| percentage of urban population in the greatest city: 13% |
| Ethnic composition, language, religion |
| ethnic groups: black 77,6% (Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Sotho, Tswana); white 10,4%; coloured 8,7%; Asian 2,5% |
| languages: English, Afrikaans, SiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, SePedi, SeSotho, SeTswana, SiSwati, TshiVenda, XiTsonga |
| religious affiliation: Black Christian churches 31%; Dutch Reformed 23%; Roman Catholic 15%; Hindi 1%; Muslim 1% |
| Health |
| daily food intake: 2909 calories per capita |
| population with access to safe water: 70 - 86% |
| people per physician: 1742 |
| people per hospital bed: 306 |
| Education, literacy |
| school enrolment: primary education 6-11 years: 89% |
| school enrolment: secondary education: 15% |
| school enrolment: tertiary education 20-24 years: 3% |
| adult literacy: 85% (male: %; female: %) |
| Economy and infrastructure |
| Economy and trade |
| currency: Rand = 100 cents |
| annual inflation rate: 10% |
| population below poverty line: 19% |
| Gross Domestic Product: USD 2900 per capita |
| GNI USD 3020 per capita //; - [ppp: 9160] |
| GDP growth: 0% |
| income: USD 2600 per capita |
| import: USD 27737 per capita //; - export: USD 27339 per capita |
| trade: USD 964 per capita //; - or 47% of GDP |
| trade partners: DE GB US JP CH NL |
| human development index: 0,702 //; - position of the country in the world no.: 94 |
| female labour force: 44% |
| unemployment: 23% |
| tourism: 6 million |
| Economic activities in agriculture, fisheries, industry, mining, services, energy |
| land use: arable land: 11% //; - grass land: 67% //; - wooded area: 4% //; - arid land and desert: 8% |
| agriculture: labour force: 14% //; - part of agriculture in GDP: 5% |
| agricultural products: maize, meat, fruits, surgarcane, wheat, milk, potatoes, grapes, wool, vegetables |
| livestock (million): cattle: 13,5 / goats: 6,7 / horses: 0,25 / pigs: 1,5 / poultry: 119,7 / sheep: 28,6 |
| fish catch: 513586 - 588000 metric tonnes |
| industry: labour force: 24% //; - part of industry in GDP: 44% |
| industrial products: food processing, (petro)chemicals, iron & steel, transport equipment, machinery, textiles |
| mining products: gold, coal, vanadium, vermiciline, diamonds, chromium, manganese, iron, copper, platinum, antimony, > |
| CO2 emission per capita: 8,3 // > some more mining products: nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium |
| services: labour force: 62% //; - part of services in GDP: 51% |
| energy use (kg per capita): 2597 |
| electricity use (per capita): 3776 |
| annual water use (per capita): 359 |
| Traffic, communication |
| road network: 181341, or 331265 km //; - of which paved: 33% //; - of which are motorways: 2040 km |
| vehicles: 95 per 1000 |
| railways: 20319, or 21244 km //; - railways passenger/km: 895 |
| navigable inland waterways: 0 km |
| ownership telephone: 95 - 125 per 1000 |
| ownership radio receivers: 273 - 355 per 1000 |
| ownership tv-sets: 101 - 134 per 1000 |
| newspaper circulation: 33 per 1000 |
| persons per post office: |
| personal computers: 62 per 1000 |
| Some physical landmarks |
| mountains: Giants Castle 3312 m, Witteberg 2771, Bendearg 2770, Kopshorn 2676 |
| lowest point: sea level |
| lakes (natural): none, or unknown |
| lakes (artificial reservoirs): Gariep Dam, Vaal Dam, Grootdraaidam, Heyshope Dam, Bloemhof Dam and others |
| lakes (deepest): unknown |
| rivers: Orange, Vaal |
| canals: none, or unknown |
| waterfalls: Augrabies 146 m; Tugela (in more than one leap) 614 m |
| caves: longest system: none, or unknown / deepest: |
| islands: none, or unknown |
| deserts: Kalahari |
| other natural features: |
| Additional remarks, especially on the statistical information |
| other important features: |
| apart from physical landmarks most of the above figures are changeable, in most cases they date from the 1990's |
| in some sources the figures are specified in ethnic groups, in these tables only totals are given |
| primary sources used for the general information: |
| BB CA EV PW WA WB WR, and some national statistical yearbooks |
| particulars concerning population data: |
To the page containing the population growth statistics of the country
To the page containing the historical population growth statistics of the provinces
To the page containing urban historical population statistics
Back to the homepage of this website: POPULATION STATISTICS
Internet website:Latest modification of this page on 2004-03-04 by Jan Lahmeyer
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