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South Africa
AFRICA
FACTFILE
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of South Africa
DATE OF FORMATION: 1934
CAPITAL: Tshwane / Pretoria; Cape Town;
Bloemfontein
POPULATION: 50.1 million
TOTAL AREA: 471,008 sq. miles (1,219,912 sq. km)
DENSITY: 106 people per sq. mile
LANGUAGES: English, isiZulu, isiXhosa*,
Afrikaans, 7 other official languages
RELIGIONS: Christian 68%, animist and
traditional beliefs 29%, other 3%
ETHNIC MIX: Black 79%, White 10%,
Mixed race 9%, Asian 2%
GOVERNMENT: Presidential system
CURRENCY: Rand = 100 cents
After 80 years of white minority rule, South Africa held
its first multiracial, multiparty elections in 1994. Victory for the
blacks marked the symbolic overturning of long years of apartheid.
GEOGRAPHY
Much of the interior is grassy veld.
Desert in the west and far north.
Mountains east, south, and west.
CLIMATE
Warm, temperate, and dry.
Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate.
Semiarid in the west.
PEOPLE & SOCIETY
The majority black population now
dominates politically, but the minority
white community still controls the
economy. A small black middle class is
growing, but unemployment among
blacks remains high. Over five million
people are HIV-positive, but the fight
against AIDS is hampered by social
attitudes. Violent crime is a problem.
THE ECONOMY
Africa’s largest, most developed
economy. Leading mineral producer,
notably metals, diamonds, coal. Tourism
is also key. Wealth gap has widened: jobs,
housing, and better access to basic
services are needed to fight poverty.
INSIGHT: Over the last century,
South Africa has produced over half
of the world’s gold
400 km
400 miles
0
0
2000m/6562ft
1000m/3281ft
500m/1640ft
Sea Level
NAMIBIA
BOTSWANA
ZIMBABWE
MOZAMBIQUE
LESOTHO
SWAZILAND
Cape of
Good Hope
INDIAN
OCEAN
D
ra
k
e
ns
b
er
g
Kalahari
Desert
Gre
at Karoo
N
ort
hern
Karoo
Orange
Vaal
Li
mp
op
o
Soweto Johannesburg
Durban
Kimberley
George
Upington
Middelburg
Beaufort West
Pietermaritzburg
Port Elizabeth
East London
Middelburg
Piet Retief
Kroonstad
Vryburg
TSHWANE/
PRETORIA
CAPE
TOWN
BLOEMFONTEIN