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 Pro