Country name: | Republic of South Africa |
Government type: | Parliamentary republic |
Capital: | Pretoria |
Administrative divisions: | 9 provinces |
Independence: | 31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies) |
Legal system: | Mixed legal system of Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and customary law |
Total area: | Land 1,214,470 sq km, water 4,620 sq km, coastline 2,798 km, land boundaries 5,244 km |
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: | Agricultural land 79.4%, forest 7.6%, other 13% (2011 est.) |
Population: | 55,380,210 (July 2018 est.) |
Ethnic groups: | Black African 80.9%, colored 8.8%, white 7.8%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2018 est.) |
Languages: | siZulu (official) 24.7%, isiXhosa (official) 15.6%, Afrikaans (official) 12.1%, Sepedi (official) 9.8%, Setswana (official) 8.9%, English (official) 8.4%, Sesotho (official) 8%, Xitsonga (official) 4%, siSwati (official) 2.6%, Tshivenda (official) 2.5%, isiNdebele (official) 1.6%, other (includes Khoi, Nama, and San languages) 1.9% (2017 est.) |
Religions: | Christian 86%, ancestral, tribal, animist, or other traditional African religions 5.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other 1.5%, nothing in particular 5.2% (2015 est.) |
Age structure: | Median age 27.4 years, life expectancy 64.1 years, total fertility rate 2.28 children born/woman (2018 est.) |
Urbanization: | Urban population: 66.9% of total population (2019) |
Literacy: |
Total population: 94.4%, male: 95.4%, female: 93.4% (2015 est.)
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Unemployment: | Unemployment youth ages (15-24): 53.4% |
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.
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. 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.