REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
A country in the southern part of Africa. It borders Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Eswatini. Area — 1.2 million km². Capital: Pretoria (approx. 1.5 million), largest cities: Greater Johannesburg (with suburbs - approx. 8 million), Durban (1.1 million), Port Elizabeth (800 thousand).
The seat of Parliament is in Cape Town (approx. 3 million), the Supreme Court is in Bloemfontein. Administrative division - 9 provinces: Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, Free State, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape. 54% of the population lives in cities. The most urbanized province is Gauteng (97%), the least is Limpopo (11%). Population - 46.3 million, growth rate - 1.2% per year. Africans - 77% (including approx. 38.5% Zulu, 27.5% Sotho, 11.6% Xhosa, 6.6% Tsonga and Tswana), Europeans - 11% (of which Afrikaners make up about 57.5%), "Coloured" - 9%, Indians - 3%. Official languages - 11 languages of the main population groups in the country. English and Afrikaans are predominantly used. Religion - Christianity (77% of the population, mostly Protestants), traditional cults (18%), Judaism (2.5%), Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam. Currency - rand (1 USD = 6.3 rand).
Diplomatic relations with the USSR were not established; from 1942 to 1956, consular relations were maintained, restored on November 9, 1991. Diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation were established on November 28, 1992.
National holiday - Freedom Day - April 27 (anniversary of the first non-racial general elections in the country's history in 1994).
South Africa is a unitary republic with elements of federalism. The constitution of 1996 is in effect. The head of state is the president. Since 1999 - Thabo Mbeki. The president is elected by the National Assembly from among its members for a term of 5 years, simultaneously serving as the head of government and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The vice-president is Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
On April 14, 2004, as a result of the third general democratic elections, the African National Congress (ANC, 450 thousand members) won a convincing victory, obtaining 279 out of 400 parliamentary seats in the National Assembly in coalition with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party, thus winning 2/3 of the seats in Parliament for the first time. Thabo Mbeki was re-elected as president of the country. The government, in addition to the president and vice-president, includes 28 ministers appointed by the president from among the members of parliament.
Parliament is the legislative authority, consisting of the National Council of Provinces (upper house, 90 members, elected by the legislative bodies of the provinces - 10 from each) and the National Assembly (lower house, 400 members, elected for 5 years through general direct elections).
Political parties and organizations: The African National Congress (ANC) - founded in 1912, is the leading political organization of the African population of South Africa. It pursues a course of national reconciliation, development of multi-party democracy, and advocates for broad social measures in the interests of the African population while maintaining the foundations of a market economy and increasing the role of the state.
The second largest party remains the opposition Democratic Alliance (founded in 1998, 47 seats in Parliament).
The most influential parties: the Inkatha Freedom Party (founded in 1975, 23 seats in Parliament), the United Democratic Movement (founded in 1997 as a centrist party, 6 seats), the Independent Democrats (5 seats), the African Christian Democratic Party (founded in 1993, 4 seats), the Freedom Front (founded in 1994, 4 seats), the United Christian Democratic Party (founded in 1989, 3 seats), the Minority Front (2 seats).
South Africa has been a member of the UN since 1945, of the Non-Aligned Movement since 1994, and of the African Union.
Colonization of South Africa began in 1652 by the Dutch, who established the Cape Colony, where the dominant position was held by Dutch settlers - the Boers. In 1806, it was seized by Great Britain, from where the first settlers arrived in 1820. In 1834, the migration of the Boers into the interior of the continent began, where they established several independent republics (Transvaal, Orange Free State). In 1843, Great Britain annexed Natal, and after the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) - Transvaal and the Orange Free State. In 1910, these territories, along with the Cape Colony, were united into the Union of South Africa, which became a British dominion.
From the beginning of colonization, there was extermination and enslavement of the African population. The National Party, coming to power in 1948, began to implement apartheid policies, based on concentrating all political and economic power in the hands of Europeans (primarily Afrikaners), significantly restricting rights based on race, and forcibly relocating Africans from "white" areas (87% of the territory) to the so-called Bantustans. The struggle against apartheid was led by the African National Congress, founded in 1912. In 1961, South Africa became a republic (RSA) and withdrew from the Commonwealth led by Great Britain (South Africa's membership in the Commonwealth was restored in June 1994). Under pressure from the objective needs of economic development, the intensification of the ANC-led struggle for equality, and finding itself in international isolation, the Pretoria regime began a partial dismantling of apartheid in the 1980s.
The government of the ruling National Party abolished racist legislation and legalized political parties. In August 1990, the ANC ceased its armed struggle that had lasted for 30 years. In 1991, segregation based on residence and land ownership was abolished. As a result of four years of multilateral negotiations, a new interim constitution of the country was adopted in 1994, based on the principles of separation of powers and rejection of apartheid (a new constitution was adopted in 1996). In the general elections held in April 1994, recognized by the international community as generally free and fair, the ANC won in most electoral districts. Following the voting, a coalition Government of National Unity was formed.
South Africa is one of the most developed countries in Africa in industrial, financial, and technological fields. It accounts for about 28% of GDP, 40% of industrial output, and 30% of agricultural production of the entire continent. It holds leading positions in the world in explored reserves and extraction of gold (258 tons extracted in Q3 2004), platinum group metals, vanadium ores, chrome and manganese raw materials, diamonds, coal, and uranium. The average annual GDP growth in 2004 was 3.7% (1.9% in 2003). GDP per capita is about 3,500 USD, but is distributed extremely unevenly. In the provinces of Gauteng and Western Cape, where the majority of the white population is concentrated, it amounts to 26-28 thousand USD, while in the poorest "black" provinces it does not exceed 300 USD.
Leading sectors of the economy include the financial sector and real estate (18.3% of GDP), manufacturing industry (17.2% of GDP), wholesale and retail trade, hospitality and restaurant business (13%), transport and communication (9.5%), mining (6.5%), agriculture, fishing, and forestry (2.9%), construction (2.4%).
Among the most pressing problems in the country are high unemployment (5.25 million, or 31.2% of the working-age population), illiteracy (54% of the population), the spread of AIDS (20% of the population aged 15 to 49 are HIV-infected), corruption, crime, and drug addiction. The gap in income levels between the rich and poor segments of the population continues to widen (10.9% of "white" citizens account for 51.9% of GDP).
South Africa has the most developed agricultural complex on the continent. The country has over 60,000 farms and cooperatives. The cultivated area amounts to 105.2 million hectares (about 82% of the country's territory). Wheat production (2002) - 2,316 thousand tons, corn - 8,040 thousand tons. The total livestock population is 13.5 million heads. Meat production is 570 thousand tons. The value of crop production is estimated at 2.4 billion USD, horticulture - 1.8 billion USD, livestock - 2.8 billion USD. Wine production is 840 million liters (7th place in the world).
South Africa is exceptionally rich in mineral resources. Its subsoil contains industrial reserves of many minerals: 91% of the world's manganese reserves, 82% of platinum group metals, 58% of chrome, 53% of gold, 50% of vanadium, and up to 20% of diamonds. Small oil and gas fields have been discovered on the southern shelf of the country.
The majority of the railway network, ports, and airports are managed by the state company Transnet Ltd. (Transnet Ltd.), and bus services are regulated in the interests of private bus companies. The length of the road network: dual carriageways - 1.44 million km, single carriageways - 4 million km.
Approximately 8,000 km of new highways are put into operation annually.
South Africa has the largest number of registered aircraft in Africa, the volume of passenger traffic and cargo transportation, a wide network of air traffic control systems, and the number of airports (30 international, including 3 of global level - Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg). Johannesburg Airport serves more than 18 million passengers annually.
Railways are managed by Spoomet Ltd. - a division of Transnet Ltd. Of the 31,400 km of tracks, 16,946 km are electrified. South African railways are connected to the railways of other countries.
South Africa has developed a network of convenient and well-equipped ports evenly distributed along the entire length of the country's coastline.
The largest are Durban and Cape Town. Container transportation has become widespread in the country.
Foreign trade turnover in 2004 increased significantly in dollar terms due to the rise in the rand's exchange rate, amounting to 93.46 billion USD (70.45 billion in 2003). However, the strengthening of the rand in 2004 slowed the development of exports while encouraging imports, leading to a trade balance deficit of 1.5 billion USD. South Africa's main trading partners continue to be the European Union, the USA, Japan, China, Middle Eastern countries, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Trade with EU countries in 2004 amounted to 27.2 billion USD (a negative balance for South Africa of 3.75 billion USD), with the USA - 6.96 billion USD (a positive balance for South Africa of 405 million USD), with Japan - 5.98 billion USD (a positive balance for South Africa of 781 million USD). Trade volume with SADC countries amounted to 4.03 billion USD (a positive balance for South Africa of 2.44 billion USD). The structure of exports is rapidly improving, primarily due to the development of the automotive industry, financial and telecommunications services. The volume of foreign direct investments in 2004 amounted to about 590 million USD (mainly in telecommunications, mining, and metalworking). Main investors: USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Malaysia.
School education is compulsory for children aged 7 to 16 years. 94% of all children attend primary schools. The corresponding figures for secondary school are 51%. There are 22 universities in the country, the largest being the University of Pretoria, the University of Cape Town, and the University of the Witwatersrand. Education expenditures account for about 21% of the budget. However, there remains a high level of illiteracy in the country, especially among the black population - 22.3%.
In South Africa, more than 50 national-level newspapers are published, as well as over 160 regional ones. The magazine production is represented by more than 800 professional, trade, technical, and entertainment publications. The largest newspapers include "Sunday Times" (approx. 460 thousand copies), "Rapport" (over 400 thousand), "Sowetan" (over 200 thousand), "Star" (over 200 thousand), "Citizen" (over 100 thousand), "Burger" (over 100 thousand). The largest of the news agencies is the South African Press Association (SAPA). Most television and a significant part of radio programs are broadcast on channels of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).