Key Data
Region
Africa
Population
43,426,386 (July 1999 Estimate)
Area Total
1,219,912 km2
Area Land
1,219,912 km2
Coastline
2,798 km
Climate
Mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny
days, cool nights.
Languages
Official Languages: Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi,
Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Currency
1 Rand (R) = 100 cents,US$1 equals 6.9 SA rand
Boundaries
Ethnic Divisions
Botswana
1,840 km
Indigenous African
75 %
Lesotho
909 km
European descent
14 %
Namibia
855 km
Mixed
9 %
Mozambique
491 km
South Asian Indian
3 %
Swaziland
430 km
Religions
Christian, Hindu, Muslim
Zimbabwe
225 km
People
For almost five decades, under the apartheid system, South African law divided the population into four
major racial categories: Africans (black), Europeans (whites), Coloreds (people of mixed ancestry), and
Asians. While this law was removed from the statute books in 1991, many South Africans still view
themselves and each other according to these categories.

One of the most striking characteristics of South Africa is its wide diversity in race, language, culture, and
religion. Many ethnic groups coexist within South Africa. It is the existence of such diversity that has led to
South Africa being referred to as the "Rainbow Nation". The Africans comprise the majority (about 75%) of
the population and are divided into a number of different ethnic groups. Whites comprise about 14% of the
population. They are primarily descendants of Dutch, French, English, and German settlers who began
arriving at the Cape in the late 17th century. Coloreds are mixed race people, primarily descending from
the earliest settlers and the indigenous peoples. They comprise about 9% of the total population. Asians
descend from Indian workers brought to South Africa in the mid-19th century to work on the sugar
plantations in Natal and in the mines of Gauteng. They constitute about 2% of the population and are
concentrated in the Province of Kwazulu-Natal that borders most of the East Coast of South Africa.

People have inhabited Southern Africa for thousands of years. Members of the Khoisan language groups
are the oldest surviving inhabitants of the land; however, only a few are left in South Africa today, and they
are located in the western sections. Most of today's black South Africans belong to the Bantu language
group (this include Southern Sotho's, Tswana's, and the Northern Sotho's), which migrated south from
central Africa, settling in the former Transvaal region (today known as Gauteng) sometime before AD 100.
The Nguni, ancestors of the Zulu and Xhosa, occupied most of the eastern coast by 1500.

One of the legacies of the apartheid system is the destruction of the sense of belonging and cohesion
among the people of South Africa. As a result, the new government has focused its attention on rebuilding
a sense of ownership of the country for the majority of the people. To this end government has introduced
educational and cultural programs aimed at promoting nation building and racial tolerance among
different groups. While it will take a long time to rebuild the trust between different groups, the people of
South Africa are today united behind their leaders in the reconstruction and development of their country.
Economy
South Africa is a middle-income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources, well developed
financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the 10
largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major
urban centers throughout the region. Growth has been positive since the historic election of President
Nelson Mandela in the country's first multi-racial elections in 1994. Daunting economic problems remain
from the apartheid era, especially the problems of poverty and economic empowerment among the blacks.
Other problems are crime and corruption. The new South African Government demonstrated its
commitment to open markets, privatization, and a favorable investment climate with the release of its
macroeconomic strategy in June 1996. Called "Growth, Employment and Redistribution," this policy
framework includes the introduction of tax incentives to stimulate new investment in labor-intensive
projects, expansion of basic infrastructure services, the restructuring and partial privatization of state
assets, continued reduction of tariffs and subsidies to promote economic efficiency, improved services to
the disadvantaged, and integration into the global economy.
Gross Domestic Product
Real GDP in South Africa increased by 8.6% between 1994 and 1998, an average annual compound
growth rate of 2.1%, while the population increased by 6.9%, which was an annual compound growth rate
of 1.7%. This resulted in an increase in real GDP per capita from $5,197 to $5,291 over the same period.