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
Judicial branch:
Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts;
Magistrate Courts
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: note - COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance with the ANC
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, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
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
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) 431-4000
FAX: [27] (12) 342-2299
consulate(s) general: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg
Flag description:
two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by
a central green band that 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
Economy
South Africa
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.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$467.8 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$282.6 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5.1% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$9,700 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.2%
industry: 31.3%
services: 65.5% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
20.49 million economically active (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 26%
services: 65% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate:
24.3% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:
50% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 44.7% (2000)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
65 (2005)
Investment (gross fixed):
20.6% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $83.47 billion
expenditures: $82.02 billion (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
Public debt:
31.3% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.5% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
11% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
13.17% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$58.49 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$141.9 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$254.9 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:
corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton,
wool, dairy products
Industries:
mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium),
automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and
steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair
Industrial production growth rate:
4.4% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
264 billion kWh (2007)
Electricity - consumption:
241.4 billion kWh (2007)
Electricity - exports:
13.77 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - imports:
11.32 billion kWh (2007)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 93.5%
hydro: 1.1%
nuclear: 5.5%
other: 0% (2001)
Oil - production:
199,100 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
504,900 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
267,700 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:
319,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:
15 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
2.9 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
3.1 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
27.16 million cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance:
-$20.63 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$76.19 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and
equipment
Exports - partners:
US 11.9%, Japan 11.1%, Germany 8%, UK 7.7%, China 6.6%, Netherlands
4.5% (2007)
Imports:
$81.89 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific
instruments, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Germany 10.9%, China 10%, Spain 8.2%, US 7.2%, Japan 6.1%, UK 4.5%,
Saudi Arabia 4.2% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$700 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$32.94 billion (31 December 2007)
Debt - external:
$39.78 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$93.51 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$53.98 billion (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$842 billion (January 2008)
Currency (code):
rand (ZAR)
Currency code:
ZAR
Exchange rates:
rand (ZAR) per US dollar - 7.05 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593
(2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003)
Communications
South Africa
Telephones - main lines in use:
4.642 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
42.3 million (2007)
Telephone system:
general assessment: the system is the best developed and most modern
in Africa
domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is
nearly 110 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 South Africa to Europe and Asia;
satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic
Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios:
17 million (2001)
Television broadcast stations:
556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)
Televisions:
6 million (2000)
Internet country code:
.za
Internet hosts:
1.297 million (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
150 (2001)
Internet users:
5.1 million (2005)
Transportation
South Africa
Airports:
728 (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)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 582
1,524 to 2,437 m: 34
914 to 1,523 m: 300
under 914 m: 248 (2007)
Heliports:
1 (2007)
Pipelines:
condensate 100 km; gas 1,177 km; oil 992 km; refined products 1,379
km (2007)
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)
Roadways:
total: 362,099 km
paved: 73,506 km (includes 239 km of expressways)
unpaved: 288,593 km (2002)
Merchant marine:
total: 3
by type: container 1, petroleum tanker 2
foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1)
registered in other countries: 8 (Bahamas 1, Nigeria 1, NZ 1, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Seychelles 1, UK 3) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay
Military
South Africa
Military branches:
South African National Defense Force (SANDF): South African Army,
South African Navy (SAN), South African Air Force (SAAF), Joint
Operations Command, Military Intelligence, Military Health Services
(2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; women have a long
history of military service in noncombat roles dating back to World
War I (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 11,622,507
females age 16-49: 11,501,537 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 6,042,498
females age 16-49: 5,471,103 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 529,201
female: 522,678 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
1.7% of GDP (2006)
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
Transnational Issues
South Africa
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
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 10,772 (Democratic Republic of Congo);
7,818 (Somalia); 5,759 (Angola) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: South Africa is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for
forced labor and sexual exploitation; women and girls are trafficked
internally - and occasionally to European and Asian countries - for
sexual exploitation; women from other African countries are
trafficked to South Africa and, less frequently, onward to Europe
for sexual exploitation; men and boys are trafficked from
neighboring countries for forced agricultural labor; Asian and
Eastern European women are trafficked to South Africa for
debt-bonded sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - South Africa is on the Tier 2 Watch
List for a fourth consecutive year for its failure to show
increasing efforts to address trafficking; the government provided
inadequate data in 2007 on trafficking crimes investigated or
prosecuted, or on resulting convictions or sentences; it also did
not provide information on its efforts to protect victims of
trafficking; the country continues to deport and/or prosecute
suspected foreign victims without providing appropriate protective
services (2008)
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
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@Southern Ocean
Introduction
Southern Ocean
Background:
A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the
Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows
from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global
ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet
and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct
border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the
seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique
ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which
promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater
abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International
Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the
Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by
combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean,
and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of
Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with
the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the
Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth
largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean,
Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean).
It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not
imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary
oceans by the US Government.
Geography
Southern Ocean
Location:
body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica
Geographic coordinates:
60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique
distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally
encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies
between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and
encompasses 360 degrees of longitude
Map references:
Antarctic Region
Area:
total: 20.327 million sq km
note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake
Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and
other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative:
slightly more than twice the size of the US
Coastline:
17,968 km
Climate:
sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees
Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and
frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between
ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to
the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere
on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south
latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the
Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees
Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds
from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter
Terrain:
the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 m over most of its extent
with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental
shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at
depths of 400 to 800 m (the global mean is 133 m); the Antarctic
icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million sq km in March
to about 18.8 million sq km in September, better than a sixfold
increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in
length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean
current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second -
100 times the flow of all the world's rivers
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich
Trench
highest point: sea level 0 m
Natural resources:
probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the
continental margin; manganese nodules, possible placer deposits,
sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals -
none exploited; krill, fish
Natural hazards:
huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller
bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 m thick)
with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual
and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by
glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and
large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October;
most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue
Environment - current issues:
increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic
ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity
(phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish;
illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years,
especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more
Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to
affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental
mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish
note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong
comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries
Environment - international agreements:
the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements
regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these
agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling
Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south
[south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees
west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits
sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living
Resources (regulates fishing)
note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource
exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front
(Antarctic Convergence), which is in the middle of the Antarctic
Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the cold
polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north
Geography - note:
the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and
Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best
natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it
is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar
Current that separates the cold polar surface waters to the south
from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current
extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees
south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South
Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds
Economy
Southern Ocean
Economy - overview:
Fisheries in 2005-06 landed 128,081 metric tons, of which 83%
(106,591 tons) was krill (Euphausia superba) and 9.7% (12,364 tons)
Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), compared to 147,506
tons in 2004-05 of which 86% (127,035 tons) was krill and 8% (11,821
tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered
by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living
Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean
area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce
illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01
season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and
Antarctic toothfish. In the 2006-07 Antarctic summer, 35,552
tourists visited the Southern Ocean, compared to 29,799 in 2005-2006
(estimates provided to the Antarctic Treaty by the International
Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), and does not
include passengers on overflights and those flying directly in and
out of Antarctica).
Transportation
Southern Ocean
Ports and terminals:
McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica
note: few ports or harbors exist on southern side of Southern Ocean;
ice conditions limit use of most to short periods in midsummer; even
then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most
Antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and,
except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private
vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject
to inspection by observers under Article 7 of the Antarctic Treaty;
The Hydrographic Committee on Antarctica (HCA), a special
hydrographic commission of International Hydrographic Organization
(IHO), is responsible for hydrographic surveying and nautical
charting matters in Antarctic Treaty area; it coordinates and
facilitates provision of accurate and appropriate charts and other
aids to navigation in support of safety of navigation in region;
membership of HCA is open to any IHO Member State whose government
has acceded to the Antarctic Treaty and which contributes resources
and/or data to IHO Chart coverage of the area; members of HCA are
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, France,
Germany, Greece, India, Italy, NZ, Norway, Russia, South Africa,
Spain, UK, and US (2007)
Transportation - note:
Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal
Transnational Issues
Southern Ocean
Disputes - international:
Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but
Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert
claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the
Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in
extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea
ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or
maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves
(the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal
claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and
150 degrees west
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008