Country name:

long form: Republic of South Africa
short form: South Africa
former: Union of South Africa
abbreviation: RSA, SA

Capital:

Pretoria (administrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 29 12 S, 28 10 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note:
Cape Town (legislative capital)
Johannesburg (judicial capital)

Currency (code):

rand (ZAR)

GDP - real growth rate:

4.5% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$13,000 (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 2.6%
industry: 30.3%
services: 67.1% (2006 est.)

Head of state:

President Thabo Mbeki

Ruling party:

African National Congress (ANC)

National holiday:

Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)

Independence:

31 May 1910 (from UK)
(South Africa became a republic in 1961)

Population:

44,187,637 (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)

Population growth rate:

-0.4% (2006 est.)

Population Density:

 36 per km²

Life expectancy:

total population: 42.73 years
male: 43.25 years
female: 42.19 years

Ethnic groups:

black 79%
white 9.6%
coloured 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%
other Christian 36%
Islam 1.5%
other 2.3%
unspecified 1.4%
none 15.1% (2001 census)

Languages:
(11 official)

IsiZulu 23.8%
IsiXhosa 17.6%
Afrikaans 14.3%
Sepedi 9.4%
English 8.6%
Setswana 8.2%
Sesotho 7.9%
Xitsonga 4.4%
Swati 2.6%
Venda 1.7%
Ndebele 1.5%

Literacy:

total population: 86.4%
(definition: age 15 and over can read and write)

Flag description:
two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes.