2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and
equipment (1998 est.)

Exports - partners:
US 10.2%, UK 9.2%, Japan 9%, Germany 7.1%, Netherlands 4% (2004)

Imports:
$39.42 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific
instruments, foodstuffs (2000 est.)

Imports - partners:
Germany 14.2%, US 8.5%, China 7.5%, Japan 6.9%, UK 6.9%, France 6%,
Saudi Arabia 5.6%, Iran 5% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$11.68 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$27.01 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$487.5 million (2000)

Currency (code):
rand (ZAR)

Currency code:
ZAR

Exchange rates:
rand per US dollar - 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002),
8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000)

Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March

Communications South Africa

Telephones - main lines in use:
4.844 million (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
16.86 million (2003)

Telephone system:
general assessment: the system is the best developed and most
modern in Africa
domestic: 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; 2 submarine cables; 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:
288,633 (2003)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
150 (2001)

Internet users:
3.1 million (2002)

Transportation South Africa

Railways:
total: 20,872 km
narrow gauge: 20,436 km 1.065-m gauge (10,436 km electrified); 436
km 0.610-m gauge
note: includes a 1,210 km commuter rail system (2004)

Highways:
total: 275,971 km
paved: 57,568 km (including 2,032 km of expressways)
unpaved: 218,403 km (2002)

Pipelines:
condensate 100 km; gas 1,052 km; oil 847 km; refined products 1,354
km (2004)

Ports and harbors:
Cape Town, Durban, East London, Po