South Africa

Republic of South Africa

Geography 

Capital: Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town (legislative)
Major Towns: Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria, Nelspruit, Port Elizabeth
Location (geographical coordinates/latitude and longitude): 25°43'S, 28°17'E
Time Zone: SAST (UTC+2)
Size (Land and Sea): 1,221,037 km²; Water %: Negligible
Borders with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho
Elevation extremes: Highest point: Njesuthi in the Drakensberg at 3 408 m
 
Politics  

Head of State: President: Thabo Mbeki
Form of Government: Parliamentary Democracy
Independancy (from UK): Union 31 May 1910 ; Statute of Westminster 11 December 1931 ; Republic 31 May 1961
Currency: South African Rand
 
Industry  

Industries: Tourism, mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair.
Natural resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas
Agriculture: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products
 
Population and People  

Population:  43,997,828 (2007 est.); 47,432,000 (2005); 44,819,278  (2001)
Population density per sq mi: 93
Growth rate:  -0.5%
Birth rate: 17.9 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.16 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 59.4/1000
Religion: Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloreds, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%
Languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu
Ethnic groups / Tribes: Black African: 79.5%, Whites: 9.2%, Coloureds: 8.9%, and Indians or Asians: 2.5%
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.1% (male 6,447,623/female 6,370,909); 15-64 years: 65.5% (male 14,040,210/female 14,761,179); 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 917,227/female 1,460,680) (2007 est.)
Life expectancy: 42.5
Literacy: 85%