Location:

Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo

Area:

total: 1,246,700 sq km
land: 1,246,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 5,198 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia and Zambia.

Climate:

semiarid in south and along coast to Luanda; north has cool, dry season (May to October) and hot, rainy season (November to April)

Natural resources:

petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium

Land use:

arable land: 2.65%
permanent crops: 0.23%
other: 97.12% (2005)

Location:

Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

Geographic coordinates:

29 00 S, 24 00 E

Area:

total: 1,219,912 sq km
land: 1,219,912 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island)

Land boundaries:

total: 4,862 km
border countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

Natural resources:

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

Population:

44,187,637
note: 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 2006 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 29.7% (male 6,603,220/female 6,525,810)
15-64 years: 65% (male 13,955,950/female 14,766,843)
65 years and over: 5.3% (male 905,870/female 1,429,944) (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.4% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:

18.2 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:

22 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 60.66 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 64.31 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 56.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 42.73 years
male: 43.25 years
female: 42.19 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.2 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

21.5% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

5.3 million (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

370,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: South African(s)
adjective: South African

Ethnic groups:

black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)

Religions:

Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Catholic 7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census)

Languages:

IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% (2001 census)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 87%
female: 85.7% (2003 est.)