Compare South Africa (2008) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)

Compare South Africa (2008) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)

	South Africa (2008)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)

Administrative divisions	9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North-West, Western Cape	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 29.1% (male 6,447,623/female 6,370,909) 15-64 years: 65.5% (male 14,040,210/female 14,761,179) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 917,227/female 1,460,680) (2007 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products	-
Airports	728 (2007)	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 146 over 3,047 m: 10 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 51 914 to 1,523 m: 67 under 914 m: 13 (2007)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 582 1,524 to 2,437 m: 34 914 to 1,523 m: 300 under 914 m: 248 (2007)	-
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)	total: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands
Area - comparative	slightly less than twice the size of Texas	land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	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 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 under the Union of South Africa. In 1948, the National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid and ushered in black majority rule.	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.
Birth rate	17.94 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $68.2 billion expenditures: $66.7 billion (2007 est.)	-
Capital	name: Pretoria (administrative capital) geographic coordinates: 25 42 S, 28 13 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)	-
Climate	mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	2,798 km	698 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 4 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	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Death rate	22.45 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Debt - external	$64.8 billion (30 September 2007)	-
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Eric BOST 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	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Welile Augustine NHLAPO chancery: 3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 232-4400 FAX: [1] (202) 265-1607 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	South Africa has placed military along the border to apprehend the thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing economic dysfunction and political persecution; as of January 2007, South Africa also supports large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (33,000), Somalia (20,000), Burundi (6,500), and other states in Africa (26,000); managed dispute with Namibia over the location of the boundary in the Orange River; in 2006, Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed U.K. Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; a small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable island in the chain
Economic aid - recipient	$700 million (2005)	-
Economy - overview	South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock exchange that is 17th largest in the world; and modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. Growth has been robust since 2004, as South Africa has reaped the benefits of macroeconomic stability and a global commodities boom. However, unemployment remains high and outdated infrastructure has constrained growth. At the end of 2007, South Africa began to experience an electricity crisis because state power supplier Eskom suffered supply problems with aged plants, necessitating "load-shedding" cuts to residents and businesses in the major cities. Daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era - especially poverty, lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups, and a shortage of public transportation. South African economic policy is fiscally conservative but pragmatic, focusing on controlling inflation, maintaining a budget surplus, and using state-owned enterprises to deliver basic services to low-income areas as a means to increase job growth and household income.	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.
Electricity - consumption	241.4 billion kWh (2007)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	13.42 billion kWh (2005)	-
Electricity - imports	11.32 billion kWh (2007)	-
Electricity - production	264 billion kWh (2007)	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m
Environment - current issues	lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures; growth in water usage outpacing supply; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge; air pollution resulting in acid rain; soil erosion; desertification	NA
Environment - international agreements	party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	-
Ethnic groups	black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)	-
Exchange rates	rand per US dollar - 7.05 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003)	-
Executive branch	chief of state: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since 23 June 2005); 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 Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA (since 23 June 2005) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 24 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009) election results: Thabo MBEKI elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100% (by acclamation)	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Leigh TURNER (since July 2006); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK and are represented by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch
Exports	217,700 bbl/day (2004)	-
Exports - commodities	gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment	-
Exports - partners	Japan 12.1%, US 11.8%, UK 9%, Germany 7.6%, Netherlands 5.3%, China 4% (2006)	-
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	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 2.2% industry: 27% services: 70.9% (2007 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	5% (2007 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	29 00 S, 24 00 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E
Geography - note	South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland	archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
Heliports	1 (2007)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 1.4% highest 10%: 44.7% (2000)	-
Illicit drugs	transshipment center for heroin, hashish, and cocaine, as well as a major cultivator of marijuana in its own right; cocaine and heroin consumption on the rise; world's largest market for illicit methaqualone, usually imported illegally from India through various east African countries, but increasingly producing its own synthetic drugs for domestic consumption; attractive venue for money launderers given the increasing level of organized criminal and narcotics activity in the region and the size of the South African economy	-
Imports	319,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)	-
Imports - commodities	machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs	-
Imports - partners	Germany 12.6%, China 10%, US 7.6%, Japan 6.6%, Saudi Arabia 5.3%, UK 5% (2006)	-
Independence	31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State); 31 May 1961 (republic declared) 27 April 1994 (majority rule)	-
Industrial production growth rate	6.2% (2007 est.)	-
Industries	mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 59.44 deaths/1,000 live births male: 62.95 deaths/1,000 live births female: 55.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	6.5% (2007 est.)	-
International organization participation	ACP, AfDB, AU, BIS, C, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, NSG, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC	-
Irrigated land	14,980 sq km (2003)	0 sq km
Judicial branch	Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate Courts	-
Labor force	20.49 million economically active (2007 est.)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 9% industry: 26% services: 65% (2007 est.)	-
Land boundaries	total: 4,862 km border countries: Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 12.1% permanent crops: 0.79% other: 87.11% (2005)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
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)	-
Legal system	based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
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 4 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 on 14 April 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - ANC 69.7%, DA 12.4%, IFP 7%, UDM 2.3%, NNP 1.7%, ACDP 1.6%, other 5.3%; seats by party - ANC 279, DA 50, IFP 28, UDM 9, NNP 7, ACDP 6, other 21; National Council of Provinces - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 42.45 years male: 43.21 years female: 41.66 years (2007 est.)	-
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.4% male: 87% female: 85.7% (2003 est.)	-
Location	Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	Africa	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 28,722 GRT/32,226 DWT by type: container 1, petroleum tanker 1 foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1) registered in other countries: 6 (Bahamas 1, Seychelles 1, UK 4, unknown 1) (2007)	-
Military - note	with the end of apartheid and the establishment of majority rule, former military, black homelands forces, and ex-opposition forces were integrated into the South African National Defense Force (SANDF); as of 2003 the integration process was considered complete	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
Military branches	South African National Defense Force (SANDF): South African Army, South African Navy (SAN), South African Air Force (SAAF), Joint Operations Command, Joint Support Command, Military Intelligence, Military Health Service (2007)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.7% (2006)	-
National holiday	Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)	-
Nationality	noun: South African(s) adjective: South African	-
Natural hazards	prolonged droughts	NA
Natural resources	gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Net migration rate	-0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2007 est.)	-
Pipelines	condensate 100 km; gas 1,177 km; oil 992 km; refined products 1,379 km (2007)	-
Political parties and leaders	African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE]; African National Congress or ANC [Jacob ZUMA]; Democratic Alliance or DA [Helen ZILLE]; Freedom Front Plus or FF+ [Pieter MULDER]; Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI]; New National Party or NNP; Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Motsoko PHEKO]; 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	43,997,828 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 2007 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia
Population below poverty line	50% (2000 est.)	-
Population growth rate	-0.46% (2007 est.)	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Railways	total: 20,872 km narrow gauge: 20,436 km 1.065-m gauge (8,931 km electrified); 436 km 0.610-m gauge (2006)	-
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)	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.012 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.628 male(s)/female total population: 0.947 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: the system is the best developed and most modern in Africa domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 100 telephones per 100 persons; 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: country code - 27; the SAT-3/WASC and SAFE fiber optic cable systems connect in South Africa providing connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)	general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: country code (Diego Garcia) - 246; international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use	4.729 million (2005)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	39.66 million (2006)	-
Television broadcast stations	556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)	1 (1997)
Terrain	vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	2.16 children born/woman (2007 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	24.2% (2007 est.)	-

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