South Africa ( RSA) is a country in Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. South Africa geographic coordinates 29 00 S, 24 00 E; area includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Is; area comparative slightly less than twice the size of Texas; land boundaries Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km; coastline 2,798 km; maritime claims 20; climate mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights; terrain vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain; elevation extremes Njesuthi 3,408 m; natural resources gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas; land use 87.13% (2001); irrigated land 13,500 sq km (1998 est.); natural hazards prolonged droughts; environment current issues 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; environment international agreements none of the selected agreements; geography note South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland;

introduction

After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments, but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). The resulting Union of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered in black majority rule. government type republic; capital Pretoria; note - Cape Town is the legislative center and Bloemfo; administrative divisions 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Western Cape; independence 31 May 1910 (from UK); note - South Africa became a republic in 1961 following an October 1960 referendum; national holiday Freedom Day, 27 April (1994); constitution 10 December 1996; this new constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 Decem; legal system based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; suffrage 18 years of age; universal;

people

South Africa population 44,344,136 estimates for this country explici; age structure 5.2% (male 893,360/female 1,397,403) (2005 est.); median age 24.86 years (2005 est.); population growth rate -0.31% (2005 est.); birth rate 18.48 births/1,000 population (2005 est.); death rate 21.32 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.); net migration rate -0.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.); sex ratio 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.); infant mortality rate 65.6 deaths/1,000 live births; life expectancy at birth 43.06 years (2005 est.); total fertility rate 2.24 children born/woman (2005 est.); hiv adult rate 21.5% (2003 est.); hiv people with aids 5.3 million (2003 est.); hiv deaths 370,000 (2003 est.); nationality South African; ethnic groups black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%; religions 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 be; languages 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu; literacy 85.7% (2003 est.);

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