South Africa
| Country summary | |
|---|---|
|
Capital |
Pretoria (administrative capital) |
|
Borders |
Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km |
|
Government type |
republic |
|
Population |
49,052,489[1] |
|
Population growth |
0.281% (2010 est.)[1] |
|
Life expectancy |
48.98 years[1] |
|
Unemployment |
24% (2009 est.)[1] |
|
72[2] | |
|
55[3] | |
|
34[4] | |
Dutch traders landed at the southern tip of modern day South Africa in 1652 and established a stopover point on the spice route between the Netherlands and the Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902); however, the British and the Afrikaners, as the Boers became known, ruled together beginning in 1910 under the Union of South Africa, which became a republic in 1961 after a whites-only referendum. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races - which favored the white minority at the expense of the black majority. The African National Congress (ANC) led the opposition to apartheid and many top ANC leaders, such as Nelson MANDELA, spent decades in South Africa's prisons. Internal protests and insurgency, as well as boycotts by some Western nations and institutions, led to the regime's eventual willingness to negotiate a peaceful transition to majority rule. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid and ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government. South Africa since then has struggled to address apartheid-era imbalances in decent housing, education, and health care. ANC infighting, which has grown in recent years, came to a head in September 2008 when President Thabo MBEKI resigned, and Kgalema MOTLANTHE, the party's General-Secretary, succeeded him as interim president. Jacob ZUMA became president after the ANC won general elections in April 2009.[1]
Economical characteristics
- Currency: Rand (ISO code: ZAR)
- Central bank discount rate: 7% (31 December 2009)[1]
- Commercial banks lending rate: 11.71% (31 December 2009 )[1]
- Stock of money (M1): $44.66 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
- Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $124.1 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
Notable events:
- Banking crisis: 1977-1978, 1989[5]
- Years in inflation: 1% (share of years 1910-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
- Public default: 1985-1987, 1989, 1993 (external)[6]
Statistics
| Statistic / Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (million USD)[7] | 133 184 | 132 878 | 118 479 | 110 874 | 166 654 | 216 012 | 242 802 | 257 728 | 283 745 | 276 445 |
| Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] | 45.270 | |||||||||
| Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] | 26.347 | 27.436 | 26.431 | 26.839 | 28.517 | 30.613 | 32.017 | 32.041 | 30.719 | |
| Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] | 27.907 | 27.824 | 27.570 | 29.284 | 30.319 | 30.461 | 30.773 | 30.748 | 30.943 | |
| Debt to revenue (years) | 1.718 |
References
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "South Africa", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-04.
- ↑ Heritage Foundation. "South Africa", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-04.
- ↑ Transparency International. "South Africa", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-04.
- ↑ Doing Business. "South Africa", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-04.
- ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 382. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
- ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 99. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
- ↑ World Bank. "South Africa: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-04.
- ↑ World Bank. "South Africa: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-04.
- ↑ World Bank. "South Africa: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-04.
- ↑ World Bank. "South Africa: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-04.
Links
- South Africa on Wikipedia
- Central bank of South Africa
- Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
- Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
- BBC country profile
- South Africa's last tea farm tries to bounce back after costly pay dispute by David Smith, March 2012
- South Africa: Women Drinking To Harm Babies by Alex Crawford, January 2013
- Chris Becker's Austrian Perspective on South Africa, Gold and the Ludwig von Mises Institute by Anthony Wile, June 2013
- Legalizing the Rhino Horn Trade by Logan Albright, July 2013
- "Mandela and the Economics of Apartheid" by Peter G. Klein, December 2013
