220/230 Volt

In South Africa, three pronged plugs are standard so an adapter is necessary. These can be bought at most retail stores, supermarkets, and markets. Most hotel rooms have 110-volt outlets for electric shavers and small appliances

Name
Republic of South Africa / South Africa

Abbreviation
RSA

Government type
Republic

Capital
Pretoria is the administyrative capital of South Africa, while Cape Town is the legislative Capital and Bloemfontein the judicial center

Currency
Rand (ZAR)
One Rand (R) = 100 cents (c).
Bank Notes: R200, R100, R50, R20, R10
Coins: R5, R2, R1, 50c 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c, & 1c.

Flag description
Two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes.

Highways in South Africa
Total: 275,971 km
Paved: 57,568 km (including 2,032 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 218,403 km (2002)

Railways in South Africa
22,298 km (incl a 2,228 km commuter rail system)

South African major ports and harbors
Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha

NUmber of Airports in South Africa
728 (2004 est.)
With paved runways: 144
With unpaved runways: 584

Visa requirements
Citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the European Union do not require a visa to stay in South Africa for visits of up to 90 days. Other nationalities should check with a travel agent.

Health requirements / Vaccinations
No vaccinations are required for cholera or smallpox. Arriving from a yellow fever zone, you must have a valid international yellow fever inoculation certificate.

Gratuities
Gratuities in South Africa are your prerogative and should be regarded as a reward for  good service. It is customary to tip hotel porters, and a gratuity of about 10% is usual in restaurants. Service charges are not usually  included in hotel or restaurant bills.

Area:
total: 1,219,912 sq km
land: 1,219,912 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Note: This includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island)

Geographic coordinates:
29 00 S, 24 00 E

Land boundaries:
total: 4,862 km

Neighbouring countries &border length: Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km.
South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland

Coastline:
2,798 km

Elevation extremes:
Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Highest point: 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.

Total South African population:
44,344,136 (July 2005 est.)

Ethnic groups in South Africa:
Black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%

Religions in South Africa:
Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloureds, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%

Languages in Soiuth Africa:
South Africa has 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu.

Literacy (definition: age 15 and over can read and write)
Total population: 86.4%
Male: 87%
Female: 85.7% (2003 est.)

Age structure in South Africa
0-14 years: 30.3% (male 6,760,137/female 6,682,013)
15-64 years: 64.5% (male 13,860,727/female 14,750,496)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 893,360/female 1,397,403) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
-0.31% (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate in S9uth Africa:
2.24 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Sex ratio in South Africa:
Total population: 0.94 male(s) per female (2005 est.)
At birth: 1.02 male(s) per female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)per female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s) per female
65 years and over: 0.64 male(s) per female

Birth rate in South Africa:
18.48 births/1,000 population

Death rate in South Africa:
21.32 deaths/1,000 population

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
21.5% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa:
5.3 million (2004 est.)

Constitution:
Signed by president Nelson Mandela on 10 December 1996 after being certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996. The constitution entered into effect on 3 February 1997.

Administrative divisions:
9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Western Cape

Legal system:
Based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law

Suffrage:
18 years of age

Executive branch:
Chief of state: President Thabo Mbeki (since 16 June 1999). The president is both the chief of state and head of government
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term

Last elections:
Held on 14 April 2004 (next to be held NA 2009)

Legislative branch:
Bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly (400 seats; members are elected by popular vote under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms) and the National Council of Provinces (90 seats, 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms; has special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities).

GDP:
Purchasing power parity - $491.4 billion (2004 est.)
Real growth rate - 3.5% (2004 est.)
Composition by sector - agriculture: 3.6%, industry: 31.2%, services: 65.2% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed)
16.7% of GDP (2004 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.5% (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $47.43 billion
expenditures: $52.54 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
Corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products

Industries:
Mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair

Exports - commodities:
Gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment (1998 est.)

Exports - partners:
US 10.2%, UK 9.2%, Japan 9%, Germany 7.1%, Netherlands 4% (2004)

Imports - commodities:
Machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs (2000 est.)

Imports - partners:
Germany 14.2%, US 8.5%, China 7.5%, Japan 6.9%, UK 6.9%, France 6%, Saudi Arabia 5.6%, Iran 5% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$11.68 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$487.5 million (2000)

Labor force:
16.63 million economically active (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
26.2% (includes workers no longer looking for employment) (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line
50% (2000 est.)

Telephones - land lines in use:
4,8 million (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
16,86 million (2003)

South African Mobile Providers
Vodacom, Cell-C and MTN

Internet country code of South Africa
co.za

Internet hosts in South Africa
288,633 (2003)

Internet users in South Africa
3.1 million (2002)