South Africa
Some of the earliest human remains in the fossil record are found in South Africa. By about A.D. 500, Bantu speaking groups began settling into what is now northeastern South Africa displacing Khoisan speaking groups to the southwest. Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of present-day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the settlers of Dutch descent (Afrikaners, also called "Boers" (farmers) at the time) trekked north to found their own republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State. In the 1820s, several decades of wars began as the Zulus expanded their territory, moving out of what is today southeastern South Africa and clashing with other indigenous peoples and with expanding European settlements. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration from Europe. The Anglo-Zulu War (1879) resulted in the incorporation of the Zulu kingdom's territory into the British Empire. Subsequently, the Afrikaner republics were incorporated into the British Empire after their defeat in the Second South African War (1899-1902). However, the British and the Afrikaners ruled together beginning in 1910 under the Union of South Africa, which became a republic in 1961 after a whites-only referendum. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid – billed as "separate development" of the races - which favored the white minority at the expense of the black majority and other non-white groups. The African National Congress (ANC) led the opposition to apartheid and many top ANC leaders, such as Nelson MANDELA, spent decades in South Africa's prisons. Internal protests and insurgency, as well as boycotts by some Western nations and institutions, led to the regime's eventual willingness to negotiate a peaceful transition to majority rule. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 following the end of apartheid ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government. South Africa has since struggled to address apartheid-era imbalances in wealth, housing, education, and health care. Jacob ZUMA became president in 2009 and was reelected in 2014, but resigned in February 2018 after numerous corruption scandals and gains by opposition parties in municipal elections in 2016. His successor, Cyril RAMAPHOSA, has made some progress in reigning in corruption, though many challenges persist. In May 2019 national elections, the country’s sixth since the end of apartheid, the ANC won a majority of parliamentary seats, delivering RAMAPHOSA a five-year term.

geography

location

29.0° S, 24. 0° E
Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

area

1,219,090 sq km
land
1,214,470 sq km
water
4,620 sq km

land boundaries

5,244 km

coastline

2,798 km

climate

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

terrain

vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain

elevation

1,034 m
lowest point
Atlantic Ocean
0 m
highest point
Njesuthi
3,408 m

natural resources

  • gold
  • chromium
  • antimony
  • coal
  • iron ore
  • manganese
  • nickel
  • phosphates
  • tin
  • rare earth elements
  • uranium
  • gem diamonds
  • platinum
  • copper
  • vanadium
  • salt
  • natural gas

land use

arable land
9.9 %
permanent crops
0.3 %
permanent pasture
69.2 %
forest
7.6 %
other
13 %

population distribution

the population concentrated along the southern and southeastern coast, and inland around Pretoria; the eastern half of the country is more densly populated than the west

people

population

  • 56,463,617
  • 26
    global rank

nationality

  • South African(s)
    noun
  • South African
    adjective

ethnic groups

black African
80.9 %
colored
8.8 %
white
7.8 %
Indian/Asian
2.5 %

languages

  • isiZulu
    official
  • isiXhosa
    official
  • Afrikaans
    official
  • Sepedi
    official
  • Setswana
    official
  • English
    official
  • Sesotho
    official
  • Xitsonga
    official
  • siSwati
    official
  • Tshivenda
    official
  • isiNdebele
    official
  • other
    includes Khoi, Nama, and San languages

religions

Christian
86 %
ancestral
%
tribal
%
animist
%
or other traditional African religions
5.4 %
Muslim
1.9 %
other
1.5 %
nothing in particular
5.2 %

birth rate

  • 19.2
    per 1,000 population
  • 78
    global rank

death rate

  • 9.3
    per 1,000 population
  • 50
    global rank

urban population

67.4 %

major urban areas

  • Johannesburg
    pop. 9,677,000
  • Cape Town
    pop. 4,618,000
  • Durban
    pop. 3,158,000
  • Pretoria
    pop. 2,566,000
  • Port Elizabeth
    pop. 1,254,000
  • West Rand
    pop. 898,000

life expectancy

  • 64.8
    total population
  • 198
    global rank
63.4
male
66.2
female

adult obesity rate

  • 28.3%
    percent of adults
  • 31
    global rank

government

government type

parliamentary republic

capital

Pretoria (administrative capital); Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)
25.42 S, 28.13 E

independence

national holidays

  • Freedom Day
    27 April

legal system

mixed legal system of Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and customary law

age of suffrage

18

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; 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

national colors

  • red
  • green
  • blue
  • yellow
  • black
  • white

national anthem

National Anthem of South Africa

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; and a stock exchange that is Africa’s largest and among the top 20 in the world. Economic growth has decelerated in recent years, slowing to an estimated 0.7% in 2017. Unemployment, poverty, and inequality - among the highest in the world - remain a challenge. Official unemployment is roughly 27% of the workforce, and runs significantly higher among black youth. Even though the country's modern infrastructure supports a relatively efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region, unstable electricity supplies retard growth. Eskom, the state-run power company, is building three new power stations and is installing new power demand management programs to improve power grid reliability but has been plagued with accusations of mismanagement and corruption and faces an increasingly high debt burden. South Africa's economic policy has focused on controlling inflation while empowering a broader economic base; however, the country faces structural constraints that also limit economic growth, such as skills shortages, declining global competitiveness, and frequent work stoppages due to strike action. The government faces growing pressure from urban constituencies to improve the delivery of basic services to low-income areas, to increase job growth, and to provide university level-education at affordable prices. Political infighting among South Africa’s ruling party and the volatility of the rand risks economic growth. International investors are concerned about the country’s long-term economic stability; in late 2016, most major international credit ratings agencies downgraded South Africa’s international debt to junk bond status.

GDP

767,200,000,000 USD
2017

agriculture products

  • corn
  • wheat
  • sugarcane
  • fruits
  • vegetables
  • beef
  • poultry
  • mutton
  • wool
  • dairy products

poverty level

16.6%
2016

budget

  • 92,860,000,000
    revenue (USD)
  • 108,300,000,000
    expenditures (USD)

communications

telephones

    fixed lines

  • 3,345,440
    total subscriptions
  • 42
    global rank

    mobile cellular

  • 92,427,958
    total subscriptions
  • 17
    global rank

broadcast media

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

internet

.za
country code

    users

  • 31,107,064
    total
  • 56.17
    % of population
  • 25
    global rank

energy

electricity access

84.2%
2017

transportation

air transport

    national system

  • 23
    registered air carriers
  • 17,188,887
    annual passenger traffic

    airports

  • 407
    total
  • 130
    paved

railways

20,986 km
total length

roadways

750,000 km
total length

military

expenditures

expenditures here

service age

18