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 under the African National Congress (ANC). ANC infighting, which has grown in recent years, came to a head in September 2008 after President Thabo MBEKI resigned. Kgalema MOTLANTHE, the party's General-Secretary, succeeded as interim president until general elections scheduled for 2009.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 49,052,489 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, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 28.9% (male 7,093,328/female 7,061,579) 15-64 years: 65.8% (male 16,275,424/female 15,984,181) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,075,117/female 1,562,860) (2009 est.)

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Median age: total: 24.4 years male: 24.1 years female: 24.8 years (2008 est.)

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Population growth rate: 0.281% (2009 est.)

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Birth rate: 20.23 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

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Death rate: 16.94 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

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Net migration rate: -0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2009 est.)

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Urbanization: urban population: 61% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2005-2010)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 44.42 deaths/1,000 live births male: 48.66 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 48.98 years male: 49.81 years female: 48.13 years (2009 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 2.38 children born/woman (2009 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 18.1% (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 5.7 million (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 350,000 (2007 est.)

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Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever and malaria water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)

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Nationality: noun: South African(s) adjective: South African

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Ethnic groups: black African 79%, white 9.6%, colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5% (2001 census)

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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)

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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)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.4% male: 87% female: 85.7% (2003 est.)

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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): total: 13 years male: 13 years female: 13 years (2004)

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Education expenditures: 5.4% of GDP (2006)

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 was robust from 2004 to 2008 as South Africa reaped the benefits of macroeconomic stability and a global commodities boom, but began to slow in the second half of 2008 due to the global financial crisis' impact on commodity prices and demand. 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.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $506.1 billion (2008 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $300.4 billion (2008 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 3.7% (2008 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $10,400 (2008 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.4% industry: 31.3% services: 65.3% (2008 est.)

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Labor force: 18.22 million economically active (2008 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 9% industry: 26% services: 65% (2007 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 21.7% (2008 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.4% highest 10%: 44.7% (2000)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 65 (2005)

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Investment (gross fixed): 20.1% of GDP (2008 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $83.85 billion expenditures: $83.3 billion (2008 est.)

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Public debt: 29.9% of GDP (2008 est.)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.3% (2008 est.)

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Central bank discount rate: 11% (31 December 2007)

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Commercial bank prime lending rate: 13.17% (31 December 2007)

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Stock of money: $58.49 billion (31 December 2007)

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Stock of quasi money: $141.9 billion (31 December 2007)

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Stock of domestic credit: $254.9 billion (31 December 2007)

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Market value of publicly traded shares: $842 billion (January 2008)

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Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products

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Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair

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Industrial production growth rate: 3.8% (2008 est.)

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Electricity - production: 264 billion kWh (2007)

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Electricity - consumption: 241.4 billion kWh (2007)

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Electricity - exports: 13.77 billion kWh (2006 est.)

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Electricity - imports: 11.32 billion kWh (2007)

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Oil - production: 199,100 bbl/day (2007 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 504,900 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - exports: 267,700 bbl/day (2005)

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Oil - imports: 319,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - proved reserves: 15 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 2.9 billion cu m (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 3.1 billion cu m (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2005)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 27.16 million cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

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Current account balance: -$21.67 billion (2008 est.)

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Exports: $81.47 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

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Exports - commodities: gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment

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Exports - partners: US 11.9%, Japan 11.1%, Germany 8%, UK 7.7%, China 6.6%, Netherlands 4.5% (2007)

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Imports: $87.3 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs

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Imports - partners: Germany 10.9%, China 10%, Spain 8.2%, US 7.2%, Japan 6.1%, UK 4.5%, Saudi Arabia 4.2% (2007)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $33.59 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

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Debt - external: $39.69 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

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Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $99.61 billion (2008 est.)

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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $57.08 billion (2008 est.)

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Exchange rates: rand (ZAR) per US dollar - 7.9576 (2008 est.), 7.05 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004)