anization participation: BIS, C, CCC, ECA, FAO,
G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NAM, OAU, SACU,
SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Franklin SONN
chancery: 3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 232-4400
consulate(s) general: Beverly Hills (California), Chicago, and New
York

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador James A. JOSEPH
embassy: 877 Pretorius St., Arcadia 0083
mailing address: P.O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001
telephone: [27] (12) 342-1048
FAX: [27] (12) 342-2244
consulate(s) general: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg

Flag: two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue
separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y,
the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side, embracing a
black isoceles 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
note: prior to 26 April 1994, the flag was actually four flags in
one - three miniature flags reproduced in the center of the white
band of the former flag of the Netherlands, which has three equal
horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and blue; the miniature
flags are a vertically hanging flag of the old Orange Free State
with a horizontal flag of the UK adjoining on the hoist side and a
horizontal flag of the old Transvaal Republic adjoining on the other
side

Economy
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Economic overview: Many of the white one-seventh of the South
African population enjoy incomes, material comforts, and health and
educational standards equal to those of Western Europe. In contrast,
most of the remaining population suffers from the poverty patterns
of the Third World, including unemployment and lack of job skills.
The main strength of the economy lies in its rich mineral resources,
which provide two-thirds of exports. Economic developments for the
remainder of the 1990s will be driven largely by the new
government's attempts to improve black living conditions, to set the
country on a steady export-led growth path, and to cut back the
enormous numbers of unemployed. The economy in recent years has
absorbed less than 5% of the m