gged hills and narrow
coastal plain

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m

Natural resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore,
manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum,
copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas

Land use: arable land: 10%

permanent crops: 1%

permanent pastures: 67%

forests and woodland: 7%

other: 15% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 12,700 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: prolonged droughts

Environment - current issues: lack of important arterial rivers or
lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures;
growth in water usage threatens to outpace supply; pollution of
rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge; air pollution
resulting in acid rain; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements: party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and
almost completely surrounds Swaziland

South Africa People

Population: 43,586,097

note: South Africa took a census October 1996 which showed a
population of 40,583,611 (after an official adjustment for a 6.8%
underenumeration based on a postenumeration survey); 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 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 32.01% (male 7,023,639; female 6,928,559)

15-64 years: 63.11% (male 13,264,654; female 14,244,484)

65 years and over: 4.88% (male 798,914; female 1,325,847) (2001
est.)

Population growth rate: 0.26% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 21.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 16.77 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.73 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

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