Exporting

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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 Far East, founding the city of Cape Town. After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (Afrikaners, called "Boers" (farmers) by the British) trekked north to found their own republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Afrikaners resisted British encroachments but were defeated in the Second South African War (1899-1902); however, the British and the Afrikaners, ruled together beginning in 1910 under the Union of South Africa, which became a republic in 1961 after a whites-only referendum. In 1948, the Afrikaner-dominated National Party was voted into power and instituted a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races - which favored the white minority at the expense of the black majority. The African National Congress (ANC) led the opposition to apartheid and many top ANC leaders, such as Nelson MANDELA, spent decades in South Africa's prisons. Internal protests and insurgency, as well as boycotts by some Western nations and institutions, led to the regime's eventual willingness to negotiate a peaceful transition to majority rule. The first multi-racial elections in 1994 following the end of apartheid ushered in majority rule under an ANC-led government. South Africa has since struggled to address apartheid-era imbalances in decent housing, education, and health care. ANC infighting came to a head in 2008 when President Thabo MBEKI was recalled by Parliament, and Deputy President Kgalema MOTLANTHE, succeeded him as interim president. Jacob ZUMA became president after the ANC won general elections in 2009; he was reelected in 2014.

Location

Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

Natural Resources

gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas

Population - distribution

the population concentrated along the southern and southeastern coast, and inland around Petoria; the eastern half of the country is more densly populated than the west

49000000
IsiZulu (official) 22.7%, IsiXhosa (official) 16%, Afrikaans (official) 13.5%, English (official) 9.6%, Sepedi (official) 9.1%, Setswana (official) 8%, Sesotho (official) 7.6%, Xitsonga (official) 4.5%, siSwati (official) 2.5%, Tshivenda (official) 2.4%, isiNdebele (official) 2.1%, sign language 0.5%, other 1.6% (2011 est.)
Johannesburg (includes Ekurhuleni) 9.399 million; Cape Town (legislative capital) 3.66 million; Durban 2.901 million; PRETORIA (capital) 2.059 million; Port Elizabeth 1.179 million; Vereeniging 1.155 million (2015)
Conventional long form
Republic of South Africa
Conventional short form
South Africa
Local long form
Local short form
parliamentary republic
Name
Pretoria
Geographic coordinates
25 42 S, 28 13 E
Time difference
UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
South Africa is a middle-income emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; and a stock exchange that is Africa’s largest and among the top 20 in the world.
Inflation
6.326%
External debt stocks
US$ 137,887,377,000
Total tax rate (% of commercial profits)
28.8%
Real Interest Rate
3.431%
Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)
13.372%
Current Account Balance
US$ -9,478,627,773
Labor Force, Total
21,099,531
Employment in Agriculture
5.59%
Employment in Industry
23.85%
Employment in Services
70.54%
Unemployment Rate
25.93%
Imports of goods and services
US$ 88,971,352,042
Exports of goods and services
US$ 89,401,819,220
Total Merchandise Trade
56.53%
FDI, net inflows
US$ 2,250,190,584
Commercial Service Exports
US$ 13,972,748,248
corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products
mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair
Commodities
gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment
Partners
China 9.2%, US 7.6%, Germany 6.6%, Namibia 5.1%, Botswana 5.1%, Japan 4.9%, UK 4.1% (2015)
Commodities
machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs
Partners
China 18.4%, Germany 11.4%, US 7.1%, India 5% (2015)
Country Risk Rating
C
A very uncertain political and economic outlook and a business environment with many troublesome weaknesses can have a significant impact on corporate payment behavior. Corporate default probability is high.
Business Climate Rating
A4
The business environment is acceptable. Corporate financial information is sometimes neither readily available nor sufficiently reliable. Debt collection is not always efficient and the institutional framework has shortcomings. Intercompany transactions may thus run into appreciable difficulties in the acceptable but occasionally unstable environments rated A4.
  • Economic and political power
  • Rich in natural resources (gold, platinum, coal, chromium, etc.)
  • Developed services sector (in particular financial)
  • Legal system provides protection for investors
  • Poverty, inequalities, sources of social risks (crime, demonstrations)
  • High level of unemployment and shortages of skilled labor
  • Infrastructure shortcomings (transport, energy)
  • Dependence on volatile foreign capital flows

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