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Compare Pacific Ocean (2005) - South Africa (2001)

Compare Pacific Ocean (2005) z South Africa (2001)

 Pacific Ocean (2005)South Africa (2001)
 Pacific OceanSouth Africa
Administrative divisions - 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Northern Province, Western Cape
Age structure - 0-14 years:
32.01% (male 7,023,639; female 6,928,559)

15-64 years:
63.11% (male 13,264,654; female 14,244,484)

65 years and over:
4.88% (male 798,914; female 1,325,847) (2001 est.)
Agriculture - products - corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products
Airports - 741 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways - total:
142

over 3,047 m:
9

2,438 to 3,047 m:
5

1,524 to 2,437 m:
47

914 to 1,523 m:
71

under 914 m:
10 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total:
599

1,524 to 2,437 m:
33

914 to 1,523 m:
304

under 914 m:
262 (2000 est.)
Area total: 155.557 million sq km


note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies
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)
Area - comparative about 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Background The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south. 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). The resulting Union of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered in black majority rule.
Birth rate - 21.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Budget - revenues:
$31.1 billion

expenditures:
$34.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA billion (FY01/02)
Capital - Pretoria; note - Cape Town is the legislative center and Bloemfontein the judicial center
Climate planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
Coastline 135,663 km 2,798 km
Constitution - 10 December 1996; this new constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 December 1996, and entered into effect on 3 February 1997; it is being implemented in phases
Country name - conventional long form:
Republic of South Africa

conventional short form:
South Africa

former:
Union of South Africa

abbreviation:
RSA
Currency - rand (ZAR)
Death rate - 16.77 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Debt - external - $25.6 billion (2000 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US - chief of mission:
Ambassador Delano E. LEWIS, Sr.

embassy:
877 Pretorius Street, Pretoria

mailing address:
P. O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001

telephone:
[27] (12) 342-1048

FAX:
[27] (12) 342-2244

consulate(s) general:
Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg
Diplomatic representation in the US - chief of mission:
Ambassador Makate Sheila SISULU

chancery:
3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:
[1] (202) 232-4400

FAX:
[1] (202) 265-1607

consulate(s) general:
Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
Disputes - international some maritime disputes (see littoral states) Swaziland has asked South Africa to open negotiations on reincorporating some nearby South African territories that are populated by ethnic Swazis or that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom
Economic aid - recipient - $676.3 million
Economy - overview The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings. 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. However, growth has not been strong enough to cut into the 30% unemployment, and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially the problems of poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. At the start of 2000, President MBEKI vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment, and to reduce poverty by relaxing restrictive labor laws, stepping up the pace of privatization, and cutting unneeded governmental spending.
Electricity - consumption - 172.393 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports - 3.884 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports - 2.457 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production - 186.903 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel:
92.74%

hydro:
0.39%

nuclear:
6.87%

other:
0% (1999)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 m


highest point: sea level 0 m
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point:
Njesuthi 3,408 m
Environment - current issues endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures; growth in water usage threatens to outpace supply; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge; air pollution resulting in acid rain; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements - party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups - black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%
Exchange rates - rand per US dollar - 7.60 (March 2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996)
Executive branch - chief of state:
President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Jacob ZUMA (since 17 June 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:
President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Jacob ZUMA (since 17 June 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president

elections:
president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 2 June 1999 (next scheduled for sometime between May and July 2004)

election results:
Thabo MBEKI elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100% (by acclamation)

note:
ANC-IFP governing coalition
Exports - $30.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities - gold, diamonds, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment
Exports - partners - UK, Italy, Japan, US, Germany
Fiscal year - 1 April - 31 March
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

note:
prior to 26 April 1994, the flag was actually four flags in one - three miniature flags reproduced in the center of the white band of the former flag of the Netherlands, which had three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and blue; the miniature flags were a vertically hanging flag of the old Orange Free State with a horizontal flag of the UK adjoining on the hoist side and a horizontal flag of the old Transvaal Republic adjoining on the other side
GDP - purchasing power parity - $369 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector - agriculture:
5%

industry:
30%

services:
65% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $8,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate - 3% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates 0 00 N, 160 00 W 29 00 S, 24 00 E
Geography - note the major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland
Highways - total:
358,596 km

paved:
59,753 km (including 1927 km of expressways)

unpaved:
298,843 km (1996)
Household income or consumption by percentage share - lowest 10%:
1.1%

highest 10%:
45.9% (1994)
Illicit drugs - transshipment center for heroin, hashish, marijuana, and possibly cocaine; cocaine consumption on the rise; world's largest market for illicit methaqualone, usually imported illegally from India through various east African countries; illicit cultivation of marijuana
Imports - $27.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities - machinery, foodstuffs and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments
Imports - partners - Germany, US, UK, Japan
Independence - 31 May 1910 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate - 2.4% (2000 est.)
Industries - mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs
Infant mortality rate - 60.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) - 5.3% (2000 est.)
International organization participation - ACP, AfDB, BIS, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM, NSG, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 44 (2000)
Irrigated land - 12,700 sq km (1993 est.)
Judicial branch - Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate Courts
Labor force - 17 million economically active (2000)
Labor force - by occupation - agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.)
Land boundaries - total:
4,750 km

border countries:
Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 855 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km
Land use - arable land:
10%

permanent crops:
1%

permanent pastures:
67%

forests and woodland:
7%

other:
15% (1993 est.)
Languages - 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Legal system - based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Legislative branch - bicameral parliament consisting of the National Assembly (400 seats; members are elected by popular vote under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms) and the National Council of Provinces (90 seats, 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms; has special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities); note - following the implementation of the new constitution on 3 February 1997 the former Senate was disbanded and replaced by the National Council of Provinces with essentially no change in membership and party affiliations, although the new institution's responsibilities have been changed somewhat by the new constitution

elections:
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces - last held 2 June 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

election results:
National Assembly - percent of vote by party - ANC 66.4%, DP 9.6%, IFP 8.6%, NP 6.9%, UDM 3.4%, ACDP 1.4%, FF 0.8%, other 2.9%; seats by party - ANC 266, DP 38, IFP 34, NP 28, UDM 14, ACDP 6, FF 3, other 11; National Council of Provinces - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ANC 61, NP 17, FF 4, IFP 5, DP 3
Life expectancy at birth - total population:
48.09 years

male:
47.64 years

female:
48.56 years (2001 est.)
Literacy - definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
81.8%

male:
81.9%

female:
81.7% (1995 est.)
Location body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Map references Political Map of the World Africa
Maritime claims - contiguous zone:
24 NM

continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive economic zone:
200 NM

territorial sea:
12 NM
Merchant marine - total:
8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 271,650 GRT/268,604 DWT

ships by type:
container 6, petroleum tanker 2 (2000 est.)
Military - note - the National Defense Force continues to integrate former military, black homelands forces, and ex-opposition forces
Military branches - South African National Defense Force or SANDF (includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Medical Services), South African Police Service or SAPS
Military expenditures - dollar figure - $2 billion (FY00/01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP - 1.5% (FY99/00)
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49:
11,469,812 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49:
6,977,328 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - military age - 18 years of age
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males:
466,399 (2001 est.)
National holiday - Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)
Nationality - noun:
South African(s)

adjective:
South African
Natural hazards surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December prolonged droughts
Natural resources oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas
Net migration rate - -1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Pipelines - crude oil 931 km; petroleum products 1,748 km; natural gas 322 km
Political parties and leaders - African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE, president]; African National Congress or ANC [Thabo MBEKI, president]; Democratic Alliance (formed from the merger of the Democratic Party or DP and the New National Party or NP) [Anthony LEON, leader]; Freedom Front or FF [Constand VILJOEN, president]; Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI, president]; Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Stanley MOGOBA, president]; United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu HOLOMISA]
Political pressure groups and leaders - Congress of South African Trade Unions or COSATU [Zwelinzima VAVI, general secretary]; South African Communist Party or SACP [Blade NZIMANDE, general secretary]; South African National Civics Organization or SANCO [Mlungisi HLONGWANE, national president]; note - COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance with the ANC
Population - 43,586,097

note:
South Africa took a census October 1996 which showed a population of 40,583,611 (after an official adjustment for a 6.8% underenumeration based on a postenumeration survey); 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 2001 est.)
Population below poverty line - 50% (2000 est.)
Population growth rate - 0.26% (2001 est.)
Ports and harbors Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong (China), Kao-hsiung (Taiwan), Los Angeles (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US), Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok (Russia), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan) Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mosselbaai, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha
Radio broadcast stations - AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios - 13.75 million (1997)
Railways - total:
21,431 km

narrow gauge:
20,995 km 1.067-m gauge (9,087 km electrified); 436 km 0.610-m gauge (1995)
Religions - Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloreds, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%
Sex ratio - at birth:
1.02 male(s)/female

under 15 years:
1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
0.93 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.6 male(s)/female

total population:
0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Suffrage - 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system - general assessment:
the system is the best developed and most modern in Africa

domestic:
consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria

international:
2 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)
Telephones - main lines in use - 5.075 million (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular - over 2,000,000 (1999)
Television broadcast stations - 556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)
Terrain surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise, warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Total fertility rate - 2.43 children born/woman (2001 est.)
Transportation - note Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound (Washington state) -
Unemployment rate - 30% (2000 est.)
Waterways - NA
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