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 South Africa



Geography

Total area: 1,221,040 km²; land area: 1,221,040 km²; includes Walvis Bay, Marion Island, and Prince Edward Island

Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries: 4,973 km total; Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 1,078 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km

Coastline: 2,881 km

Maritime claims:
 * Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
 * Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: South Africa administered Namibia until independence was achieved on 21 March 1990; possible future claim to Walvis Bay by Namibia

Climate: mostly semiarid; subtropical along coast; sunny days, cool nights

Terrain: vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain

Natural resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas

Land use: 10% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 65% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 21% other; includes 1% irrigated

Environment: lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures

Note: Walvis Bay is an exclave of South Africa in Namibia; completely surrounds Lesotho; almost completely surrounds Swaziland

People

Population: 39,549,941 (July 1990), growth rate 2.67%; includes the 10 so-called homelands, which are not recognized by the US

four independent homelands—Bophuthatswana 2,352,296, growth rate 2.80%; Ciskei 1,025,873, growth rate 2.93%; Transkei 4,367,648, growth rate 4.19%; Venda 665,197, growth rate 3.86%

six other homelands—Gazankulu 742,361, growth rate 3.99%; Kangwane 556,009, growth rate 3.64%; KwaNdebele 348,655, growth rate 3.35%; KwaZulu 5,349,247, growth rate 3.62%; Lebowa 2,704,641, growth rate 3.92%; Qwagwa 268,138, growth rate 3.59%

Birth rate: 35 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 52 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 67 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 4.5 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—South African(s); adjective—South African

Ethnic divisions: 73.8% black, 14.3% white, 9.1% Colored, 2.8% Indian

Religion: most whites and Coloreds and roughly 60% of blacks are Christian; roughly 60% of Indians are Hindu, 20% Muslim

Language: Afrikaans, English (official); many vernacular languages, including Zulu, Xhosa, North and South Sotho, Tswana

Literacy: almost all white population literate; government estimates 50% of blacks literate

Labor force: 11,000,000 economically active; 34% services, 30% agriculture, 29% industry and commerce, 7% mining (1985)

Organized labor: about 17% of total labor force is unionized; African unions represent 15% of black labor force

Government

Long-form name: Republic of South Africa; abbreviated RSA

Type: republic

Capital: administrative, Pretoria; legislative, Cape Town; judicial, Bloemfontein

Administrative divisions: 4 provinces; Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal; there are 10 homelands not recognized by the US—4 independent (Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei, Venda) and 6 other (Gazankulu, Kangwane, KwaNdebele, KwaZulu, Lebowa, Qwaqwa)

Independence: 31 May 1910 (from UK)

Constitution: 3 September 1984

Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Republic Day, 31 May (1910)

Executive branch: state president, cabinet, Executive Council (cabinet) Ministers' Councils (from the three houses of Parliament)

Legislative branch: tricameral Parliament consists of the House of Assembly (whites), House of Representatives (Coloreds), and House of Delegates (Indians)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—State President Frederik W. DE KLERK (since 13 September 1989)

Political parties and leaders: white political parties and leaders—National Party (NP), Frederik W. de Klerk (majority party); Conservative Party (CP), Dr. Andries P. Treurnicht (official opposition party); Herstigte National Party (HNP), Jaap Marais; Democratic Party (DP), Zach De Beer, Wynand Malan, and Denis Worrall;

Colored political parties and leaders—Labor Party (LP), Allan Hendrickse (majority party); Democratic Reform Party (DRP), Carter Ebrahim; United Democratic Party (UDP), Jac Rabie; Freedom Party;

Indian political parties and leaders—Solidarity, J. N. Reddy (majority party); National People's Party (NPP), Amichand Rajbansi; Merit People's Party

Suffrage: universal at age 18, but voting rights are racially based

Elections: House of Assembly (whites)—last held 6 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1994); results—NP 58%, CP 23%, DP 19%; seats—(178 total, 166 elected) NP 103, CP 41, DP 34;

House of Representatives (Coloreds)—last held 6 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1994); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(85 total, 80 elected) LP 69, DRP 5, UDP 3, Freedom Party 1, independents 2;

House of Delegates (Indians)—last held 6 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1994); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(45 total, 40 elected) Solidarity 16, NPP 9, Merit People's Party 3, United Party 2, Democratic Party 2, People's Party 1, National Federal Party 1, independents 6

Communists: small Communist party illegal since 1950; party in exile maintains headquarters in London, Daniel Tloome (Chairman) and Joe Slovo (General Secretary)

Other political groups: insurgent groups in exile—African National Congress (ANC), 284