South Africa 
Facts
Population:
43,586,097
note:
South Africa took a census October 1996 which showed a population of 40,583,611 (after an official adjustment for a 6.8% underenumeration based on a postenumeration survey); estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
32.01% (male 7,023,639; female 6,928,559)
15-64 years:
63.11% (male 13,264,654; female 14,244,484)
65 years and over:
4.88% (male 798,914; female 1,325,847) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.26% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
21.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
16.77 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.6 male(s)/female
total population:
0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
60.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
48.09 years
male:
47.64 years
female:
48.56 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.43 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
19.94% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
4.2 million (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
250,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
South African(s)
adjective:
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 beliefs and animist 28.5%
Languages:
11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
81.8%
male:
81.9%
female:
81.7% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $369 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $8,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
5%
industry:
30%
services:
65% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
50% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
1.1%
highest 10%:
45.9% (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.3% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
17 million economically active (2000)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
30% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$31.1 billion
expenditures:
$34.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA billion (FY01/02)
Industries:
mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs
Industrial production growth rate:
2.4% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
186.903 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
92.74%
hydro:
0.39%
nuclear:
6.87%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
172.393 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
3.884 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
2.457 billion kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products
Exports:
$30.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
gold, diamonds, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment
Exports - partners:
UK, Italy, Japan, US, Germany
Imports:
$27.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, foodstuffs and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments
Imports - partners:
Germany, US, UK, Japan
Debt - external:
$25.6 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$676.3 million
Currency:
rand (ZAR)
Currency code:
ZAR
Exchange rates:
rand per US dollar - 7.60 (March 2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Displaying 43 to 44 of 44 items.
(Liberal), Durban
http://www.sundaytribune.co.za/
Work in Progress
(African National Congress monthly), Braamfontein
South Africa in the News
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 
Displaying 1 to 4 of 34 items.
Some critics say that the 2010 World Cup should not have been awarded to South Africa, because of its crime problems, even though the country has proved itself capable of hosting major events in the past.
Africa still suffers from AIDS far more than any other continent. South Africa and Nigeria need to play leading roles in curbing the epidemic.
With the Copenhagen failure fresh in our memory and the 2010 World Cup around the corner, many are wondering how green the soccer tournament will be.
Much progress has been made in the fight against AIDS, but the global financial crisis is proving to be a major hurdle in getting assistance to those affected in developing parts of the world.
Americas 
