South Africa

• mostly semiarid;
• subtropical along east coast;
• sunny days, cool nights

total:

12.5 cu km/yr (31%/6%/63%)

per capita:

264 cu m/yr (2000)

• lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures;
• growth in water usage outpacing supply;
• pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge;
• air pollution resulting in acid rain;
• soil erosion;
• desertification

noun:

South African(s)

adjective:

South African

at birth:

1.02 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.67 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis (2009)

conventional long form:

Republic of South Africa

conventional short form:

South Africa

former:

Union of South Africa

abbreviation:

RSA

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)

• 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)

• 10 December 1996;
• note - certified by the Constitutional Court 4 December 1996;
• was signed by then President MANDELA 10 December 1996;
• and entered into effect 4 February 1997

chief of state:

• President Jacob ZUMA (since 9 May 2009);
• Deputy President Kgalema MOTLANTHE (since 11 May 2009);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Jacob ZUMA (since 9 May 2009); Deputy President Kgalema MOTLANTHE (since 11 May 2009)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 6 May 2009 (next to be held in 2014)

election results:

Jacob ZUMA elected president; National Assembly vote - Jacob ZUMA 277, Mvume DANDALA 47, other 76

• Constitutional Court;
• Supreme Court of Appeals;
• High Courts;
• Magistrate Courts

• African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE];
• African National Congress or ANC [Jacob ZUMA];
• Congress of the People or COPE [Mosiuoa LEKOTA];
• Democratic Alliance or DA [Helen ZILLE];
• Freedom Front Plus or FF+ [Pieter MULDER];
• Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI];
• Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Motsoko PHEKO];
• United Christian Democratic Party or UCDP [Lucas MANGOPE];
• United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu HOLOMISA]

• 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: note - COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance with the ANC

ACP, AfDB, AU, BIS, BRICS, C, CD, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM, NSG, OECD (Enhanced Engagement, OPCW, Paris Club (associate), PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNSC (temporary), UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Ebrahim RASOOL

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador Donald H. GIPS

embassy:

877 Pretorius Street, Pretoria

mailing address:

P. O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001

telephone:

[27] (12) 431-4000

FAX:

[27] (12) 342-2299

consulate(s) general:

Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg

• 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;
• the flag colors do not have any official symbolism, but the Y stands for the "convergence of diverse elements within South African society, taking the road ahead in unity";
• black, yellow, and green are found on the flag of the African National Congress, while red, white, and blue are the colors in the flags of the Netherlands and the UK, whose settlers ruled South Africa during the colonial era

note: the South African flag is one of only two national flags to display six colors as part of its primary design, the other is South Sudan's

agriculture:

9%

industry:

26%

services:

65% (2007 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.2%

highest 10%:

51.7% (2009 est.)

general assessment:

the system is the best developed and most modern in Africa

domestic:

• combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 140 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 submarine cable systems connect South Africa to Europe and Asia;
• the EASSy fiber-optic cable system connects with Europe and North America;
• satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)

• the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) operates 4 TV stations, 3 are free-to-air and 1 is pay TV;
• e.tv, a private station, is accessible to more than half the population;
• multiple subscription TV services provide a mix of local and international channels;
• well developed mix of public and private radio stations at the national, regional, and local levels;
• the SABC radio network, state-owned and controlled but nominally independent, operates 18 stations, one for each of the 11 official languages, 4 community stations, and 3 commercial stations;
• more than 100 community-based stations extend coverage to rural areas (2007)

total:

20,192 km

country comparison to the world: 14

narrow gauge:

• 19,756 km 1.065-m gauge (8,271 km electrified);
• 122 km 0.750-m gauge;
• 314 km 0.610-m gauge (2008)

total:

362,099 km

country comparison to the world: 18

paved:

73,506 km (includes 239 km of expressways)

unpaved:

288,593 km (2002)

total:

3

country comparison to the world: 136

by type:

petroleum tanker 3

registered in other countries:

19 (Australia 1, Isle of Man 2, Mexico 1, NZ 1, Seychelles 1, Singapore 13) (2010)

• 18 years of age for voluntary military service;
• women are eligible to serve in noncombat roles;
• 2-year service obligation (2007)

males age 16-49:

13,439,781

females age 16-49:

12,473,641 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

7,617,063

females age 16-49:

6,476,264 (2010 est.)

male:

482,122

female:

485,017 (2010 est.)

• with the end of apartheid and the establishment of majority rule, former military, black homelands forces, and ex-opposition forces were integrated into the South African National Defense Force (SANDF);
• as of 2003 the integration process was considered complete

• 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 (country of origin):

• 12,973 (Democratic Republic of Congo);
• 15,186 (Somalia);
• 5,808 (Angola) (2011)

• 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