The South Africa (called formerly the South African Union) is a Pays located at the southern point of the Africa. It is bordered in north by the Namibia, the Botswana and the Zimbabwe and in the North-East by the Mozambique and the Swaziland. The Lesotho is a State landlocked within the South-African territory.
South Africa is characterized by important mining richnesses (Or, Diamant, coal, etc) which made it essential for the Western countries during the Cold war and by an important population of European stock .
South Africa counts more than 48,5 million inhabitants (results of the census of 2007) divided into 79,5% from Blacks, 9,2% of White, 8,9% of Mongrel and 2,5% the Asian ones. Nation with the very varied phenotypes, South Africa east thus in Africa country presenting the greatest portion of coloured populations known as “”, white and Indian. South Africa is sometimes called “Nation rainbow”, concept invented by the archbishop Desmond Tutu. It is a question of putting in contrast the diversity of the new South-African nation, compared to the ideology separationnist of the Apartheid.
South Africa is the first economic power of the African continent. The economy of South Africa indeed one of is developed continent and benefits from modern infrastructures covering all the country.
History
See also: History of South Africa, chronological History of South Africa
Policy
See also: Political of South Africa
The South-African government is parliamentary, but the functions of chief of the government and Head of the State merge under the title of President of the Republic of South Africa.
The president is elected with a joint session of the bicameral Parlement, composed of the National Assembly and National council of the Provinces (NCoP).
The 400 members of the National Assembly are elected by poll proportional. NCoP, which replaced the Senate in 1997, is composed of 90 members representing the nine provinces and the metropolises.
Each province is equipped with a Provincial Legislature unicamérale, and an Executive council chaired by a Prime Minister ( first in English and Afrikaans). The provinces are less autonomous than those, for example, of the Canada or than the States with the the United States. It is then about a federal system moderate. The State counts 11 official languages.
Since the end of the Apartheid, ANC did not cease increasing its political domination. However, the opposition remains long-lived although decreased, and it is usually estimated that South Africa is the democratic State more of Africa. Its constitution is for example one of most generous world from the point of view of the Human rights.
The government must solve the problem of violences which touch the campaigns of the country: the Land reform imposes the redistribution of the grounds on the Blacks and the farmers afrikaners must often sell their exploitations with the government, which causes resistances. These farmers, approximately 35.000, are sometimes attacked by organized bands and some are registered with training courses commandos to mitigate the lack of assistance of the government. Several parties of Extrême right-hand side continue to recruit within a fringe of this population which feels forsaken.
Flag
The flag of South Africa was adopted the March 15th 1994 and is officially the emblem of the country since the April 27th 1994.Its predecessor was disputed for his symbolism exclusively related to the history afrikaner and Britannique of the country.
The six colors symbolize at the same time the various political tendencies of the country, the prevalent colors of the old flags used by South Africa during its history like its natural resources. (blue = sky; green = ground; black = native African; white = native Europeans; gold bearing yellow = richness)
Provinces
See also: Provinces of South Africa
At the end of the Apartheid in 1994, the 4 provinces of South Africa autonomous or independent and the 10 Bantoustan S left the place to 9 new provinces:
- Cape-Westerner ( Western Wraps ): south-west of old the the Cape Province
- Cape-of-North ( Northern Wraps ): north of the old Cape-Eastern Cape Province
- ( Eastern Wraps ): homelands of the Transkei, the Ciskei and south-east of the old Cape Province, which also includes the two South-African islands in the south of the Indian Ocean, the Marion island and the island of the KwaZulu-Native Prince-Edouard
- : Native and State-Free Zoulouland
- ( Free State ): free State of integrated Orange and some homelands
- North-western ( North West ): old Transvaal-West, north of the Cape Province and Bantustan of the Bophuthatswana
- Gauteng: Old Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging in the center of the Transvaal
- Mpumalanga: old area of Transvaal-Is
- Limpopo (province): old area of Transvaal-North, called province of North between 1995 and 2002
Geography
See also: Geography of South Africa, Towns of South Africa, Toponymy in South Africa
Mountainous space
In the Southern part of the country are the Monts of Drakensberg, extend from Kwazulu-Native to the Cape Province, that is to say approximately 1000km.Average altitude is of 3000 meters, the culminating point of this relief and of the country is the Thabana Ntlenyana with 3482meters. This solid mass of the Drakensberg rather old with tops is rounded, it is a green zone and place of life of the San. people. It is also in this solid mass, that the river Orange takes its source.
In the North of the country, is an old volcanic zone, Pilanesberg. It is a relatively escarpée zone on which craters are. Fauna is very rich there, mammals, deer tribe… One also finds there a flora typical the such Adansonia, Teck, ebony, Hibiscus…
Finally sufficiently high altitude for this latitude allows the practice of the ski at the time of the southern winter. It is not rare as at the time of the month of June 2007 seeing falling from large quantity from snow (30 cm) in one day.
Plains and Deserts
The plains are located mainly in NO and in the free Orange State, they are the cereal attics of South Africa, thanks to the production of Blé, Maïs, Coton and from the breeding of Mouton S.The basements are there also very rich in Or, Diamant S, Uranium and coal; as in the towns of Kimberley and Bloemfontein.
But NO of the country is also occupied by the desert of Kalahari which also extends on the Botswana and the Namibia, it represents nearly 1 million km ². Characterized by its red sand dunes, it is a semi-arid Désert comprising many zones of savannas and some trees the such Acacia S with spines and baobab tree S. Many animal migrations there are observed.
Littoral
Along the frontage of the Atlantique the littoral is rather regular. In the Namaqualand one observes a floral explosion for one month when more: 4000 plant species flower at the same time (Lys, Aloes…) enter mid-August and mid-September. This zone is very tourist. The zone of the Cape of Good Hope is mainly rock, where colonies of penguins are installed. One also finds the Island with the Seals (Seal Island) which accommodates seals coming mainly from the Antarctic.In the area of Stellenbosch, the littoral offers an ideal climate for the vine growing.
More in the east, the littoral is an alternation of rock coasts and sand beaches end. Certain zones of bathes are delimited by the nets anti-sharks, very many along certain South-African coasts.
The principal seaside resorts are in the east of the country like, East London, Jeffrey' S Bay, Port Elizabeth, or Durban.
One also finds maritime zones protected within the framework from National parks as the reserve Finda located on ground and at the broad one, where one can practice deep-sea diving.
Economy
See also: Economy of South Africa
The South-African economy is most powerful of the continent. It is currently in full rise, after the breathlessness caused by apartheid. According to the indicator of the human development (IDH) of the Program of the United Nations for the development (UNDP), South Africa moved back of 35 places in their classification between 1990 and 2005, noting the general impoverishment of the population. In 2006, the country holds the 121e place with world classification. This regression would be mainly due to the recent installation of reliable and more representative studies (in the past the policy of Apartheid tended to occult the condition of the Africans), but would be also due to the devastations caused by the pandemia of the AIDS. Part of the white minority, in particular among the high incomes, returned badly at ease because of the end of the Apartheid, of criminality (541 white farmers were massacred between 1998 and 2001), of positive discrimination, pandemia of the AIDS, and the events to the Zimbabwe and in Ivory Coast, emigrates massively in Australia or New Zealand. Many African immigrates in South Africa to earn more money than in their countries of origin, but the AIDS and criminality make some leave some at the end of a few years.
Classification of the principal economic powers in Africa
For 2006, the the World Bank gives the following classification:
The affirmative action
Since 1994, the South-African authorities implemented a policy of affirmative action (Positive discrimination) aiming at promoting a better representation of the black majority in the various sectors of the country (administration, public services and parapublic, nationalized and deprived companies). Thus, in many sectors, white were invited to take advantage of their rights to the retirement or to accept dismissals, with the help of a strong severance pay. One of the results was the relative impoverishment of a small portion of this white minority (10% of its members live today with 1.000 euros per annum).But this policy of affirmative action is criticized more especially as it would have especially profited with the close relations from ANC and supports the constitution of a black middle-class which hastened to invest certain fashionable districts reserved formerly for the only white instead of helping with the development of old the townships .
In addition, a study made public in 2006, and bearing over the period 1995-2005, watch which the qualified white emigrate in mass: in ten years, 16,1% of the white South-Africans would have left the country. Following the critics of the opposition parties, the South-African government redefines its policy of affirmative action while seeking to support the return to the countries of these too many and too qualified expatriates. It is the vice-president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who is charged to put this reform works about it by promoting inciting wages with those which would return to the country.
The Land reform
Since 1994, only 3,6% of the farms were redistributed to the 1,2 million blacks whereas 60.000 white have and manage always 80% of cultivable surfaces. The government had been given in 1994 like objective to redistribute 30% of the grounds from here 2014.The law provides that the descendants of the farmers black, dispossessed by the force or wrongfully compensated within the framework for the laws adopted since 1913, can ask for the restitution of their grounds. In July 2005, the majority of the 4.000 participants in the “Summit on the ground”, recommended expropriations whereas the vice-president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka asked “to import experts of Zimbabwe”.
However, this redistribution should not affect the economic profitability of these grounds because the restitution with Blacks of the majority of the farms of the fertile valleys of Limpopo turned to the disaster, for lack of technical and financial framing whereas the Noirs farmers cultivate only sufficient surfaces to nourish their family and leave the remainder in waste land.
The development of black capitalism
Since 1994 and on the basis of voluntariate, practically all the great mining groups and the banks yielded between 10 and 26% of their capital to blacks, Indians and mongrel. Initially, a small black elite, resulting from the leaders of the ANC, was reconverted successfully into the businesses while profiting from large transfers of capital of companies. Richest of them is Patrice Motsepe which accumulated a fortune of more than 500 million dollars in hardly ten years.Since 2000, precise objectives were negotiated in certain sectors (mines, banks, distribution of oil, etc). Thus, according to the mining charter of 2002, all the companies must yield 26% of their capital from here to 2014. The Blacks will have to account for 40% of the executives in 2009. The companies which will not observe these conditions will be able to lose their rights of exploitation.
An legislative arsenal is besides in the course of adoption. Precise objectives will be laid down in particular as regards transfer of capital and internal promotion of the Blacks in the companies. All the companies including SME will have to fill a report card (those which will have the best notes will be likely more to gain the government contracts). The multinationals are however exempted.
Demography
See also: Demography of South Africa
The South-African population is unequally distributed: the majority of the inhabitants reside at the east of the country. The KwaZulu-Native is the most populated area and the densities are very important in the Gauteng. The Aridité explains the weak densities of the North-West partly.
The country is confronted with the increase in seropositivity to HIV: starting from the anténataux tests, it was deduced that 19% of the 15-49 years are HIV positive. The total prevalence of this seropositivity is estimated at 11%. However the estimates of population for 2007 being based on this prevalence (44 million) do not agree with the very last censuses organized by the South-African governmental services (48,5 Million).
The census makes it possible to establish the ethnic distribution of the country: 79% of the South-Africans are black, 9,6% white, 8,9% coloureds (mongrel), 2,5% Asian. The Indians concentrate primarily in theNative one.
With leaving apartheid, the white South-Africans accounted for 16% of the total population, however 1/3 of this population since then chose the exodus.
Among the white population of the country, oldest, the Afrikaners (or Boers), the descendants of the colonists Dutch, represent a proportion of 60% of the White, the others being especially of British origin , but also Portuguese and German. It y' also has a considerable part of descendants of Huguenots French which settled here during the wars of religion in France.
Criminality
According to the newspaper Le Monde of the December 28th 2004, the country beats records as regards criminality: one counts approximately 20.000 murders there per annum, 30.000 attempted murders, more than 50.000 rapes and approximately 300.000 burglings. The official publications of the statistics of the criminality of 2004 then those of 2005 show however that the tendency is in rather significant fall, especially with regard to the murders and burglings. Those of 2006 again show encouraging signs of fall, but less marked than the two previous years. The figures of 2007 indicate a light rise.In 2005, South Africa counted some 19.000 assassinated people, 55.000 people violated and 120.000 holdups according to the figures quoted by Sunday Times. Andre Brink, the South-African novelist, denounced this criminality and the inaction of the government on the matter in two articles of the newspaper Le Monde in September 2006, seeing there a risk for the political stability of the country. It there also denounced corruption, the arrogance of certain ministers and the devastations of the Sida, and called with the resignation for incompetence of the Ministers for health and safety.
Culture
See also: Culture of South Africa
Eleven official languages are recognized by the Constitution in South Africa.
The Zoulou is the language most practiced in the South-African hearths (approximately 1/4 of the inhabitants). English remains the language of the businesses and the communication.
3/4 of the South-Africans are declared Christian, 18% without religion.
See also: South-African Literature
Sport
South Africa east world champion of Rugby, on June 24th, 1995 with Johannesburg (Elect Park).South Africa east world champion of Rugby, on October 20th, 2007 with Holy Denis (Stade de France).
South Africa will organize the football world cup 2010.
South Africa organized the world cup of cricket, in 2003.
South Africa east champion of Africa of football 1996 with Johannesbourg (FNB Stadium).
Others
Capital: PretoriaPopulation: 47,432 million inhabitants. 0-14 years: 32,01%; 15-64 years: 63,11%; + 65 years: 4,88%
Surface: 1.219.912 km ²
Density: 38 hab./km²
Land borders: 4.750 km (Botswana 1.840 km; Lesotho 909 km; Namibia 855 km; Mozambique 491 km; Swaziland 430 km; Zimbabwe 225 km)
Littoral: 2.798 km
Ends of altitude: 0 m > 3.408 m
Life expectancy of the men: 48 years (estimated thanks to Epimodel in 2001)
Life expectancy of the women: 49 years (estimated thanks to Epimodel in 2001)
Annual growth rate the pop one: 0,26% (estimated thanks to Epimodel in 2001). According to the figures of the South-African statistics, it is of 1,26%
Birth rate: 21,12 ‰ (in 2001)
Death rate: 16,77 ‰ (in 2001) and 11 ‰ in 2002
infantile Death rate: 60,33 ‰ (in 2001)
Fertility rate: 2,4 children/woman (in 2001)
Rate of migration: - 1.73 ‰ (in 2001)
Independence: May 31st 1910 (old British colony)
Telephone lines: 5,075 million (in 1999)
Cellphones: 2 million (in 1999)
Radios: 13,75 million (in 1997)
Television stations: 5,2 million (in 1997)
Users of Internet: 1,82 million (in 2000)
Many suppliers of access Internet: 44 (in 2000)
Roads: 358.596 km (including 59.753 tarred km) (in 1996)
Railways: 21.431 km (in 1995)
inland Waterways: n.c.
Many airports: 741 (including 142 with tarred tracks) (in 2000)
national Airline company: South African Airways
Related articles
- Emblems of South Africa since 1994
- Old emblems of Unintermitting South Africa
- Country of the world
- bovine Breeding in South Africa
References
See too
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