Currency: Rand (R)
Exchange rate: see "market indicators" above right
Real GDP growth rate (second quarter 2012): 3.2%
Ranking in terms of GDP size: 25th largest in the world [IMF]
Consumer inflation rate (May 2012): 5.7% y/y [StatsSA]

Producer inflation rate (May 2012): 6.6% y/y [StatsSA]
Prime bank overdraft lending rate (July 2012): 9%
Labour force (first quarter 2012): 17.95-million economically active [StatsSA]
Unemployment (first quarter 2012): 25.2% [StatsSA]
Sovereign credit rating (2012): Standard and Poor's: BBB+/Negative
Fitch: BBB+/Negative
Moody's: A3/Negative
GDP composition by sector (2011):
agriculture 2.5%, industry 31.6%, services 65.9%

Key industries:
Mining (world's largest producer of platinum, chromium), automobile assembly, metal- working, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilisers, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair.
Main trading partners (2011) [Sars]:

Exports – China 12.77%, US 8.64%, Japan 7.88%, Germany 6.04%, UK 4.11%, India, 3.47%, Switzerland 3.24%, Netherlands 3.05%, Zimababwe 2,52%, Mozambique 2.5%

Imports – China 14.24%, Germany 10.69%, US 7.88%, Japan 4.74%, Saudi Arabia 4.46%, India 4.03%, UK 4.02%, Iran 3,74%, Nigeria 3.13%, Italy 2.7%

National legislature: Bicameral Parliament elected every five years, comprising a 400-seat National Assembly and a 90-seat National Council of Provinces.

Electoral system: List-system of proportional representation based on universal adult suffrage. Elections: National elections were held in 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009. The next national election will take place within 90 days of 22 April 2014.

Head of state: The President is elected by the National Assembly. Under the Constitution, the President is permitted to serve a maximum of two five-year terms. The current President is Jacob Zuma, who was sworn in on 9 May 2009.

South Africa is a vigorous multiparty democracy with an independent judiciary and a free and diverse press.

Until 1994, the country was known for apartheid – white-minority rule. South Africa's remarkable ability to put centuries of racial hatred behind it in favour of reconciliation was widely considered a social miracle, inspiring similar peace efforts in Northern Ireland, Rwanda and elsewhere.

The highest law of the land is the Constitution, which came into force on 4 February 1997, and is considered to be one of the most progressive in the world. The Constitution's Bill of Rights protects equality, freedom of expression and association, property, housing, health care, education, access to information, and access to courts. Protecting those rights is the country's independent judiciary, subject only to the Constitution and the law.

With 13 parties in Parliament, South Africa has a vibrant political system. The African National Congress is the governing party, and strongly in the majority, though the opposition parties are robust and vocal.

SOUTH AFRICA'S POLITICAL PARTIES
Political party	National Assembly seats
African National Congress	264
Democratic Alliance	67
Congress of the People	30
Inkatha Freedom Party	18
Independent Democrats	4
United Democratic Movement	4
Freedom Front Plus	4
African Christian Democratic Party	3
United Christian Democratic Party	2
Pan Africanist Congress	1
African Peoples Convention	1
Minority Front	1
Azanian People's Organisation	1

South Africa has nine provinces, which vary considerably in size.  The smallest is tiny and crowded Gauteng, a highly urbanised region, and the largest the vast, arid and empty Northern Cape, which takes up almost a third of South Africa's total land area.

PROVINCIAL LAND AREA
Province	Area	% of total
Eastern Cape	169 580 kmฒ	13.9%
Free State	129 480 kmฒ	10.6%
Gauteng	17 010 kmฒ	1.4%
KwaZulu-Natal	92 100 kmฒ	7.6%
Limpopo	123 910 kmฒ	10.2%
Mpumalanga	79 490 kmฒ	6.5%
Northern Cape	361 830 kmฒ	29.7%
North West	116 320 kmฒ	9.5%
Western Cape	129 370 kmฒ	10.6%
TOTAL	1 219 090 kmฒ	100%

POPULATION BY PROVINCE MID-YEAR POPULATION ESTIMATES 2011
Province	Population	% of total
Eastern Cape	6 829 958	13.5%
Free State	2 759 644	5.46%
Gauteng	11 328 203	22.39%
KwaZulu-Natal	10 819 130	21.39%
Limpopo	5 554 657	10.98%
Mpumalanga	3 657 181	7.23%
Northern Cape	1 096 731	2.17%
North West	3 253 390	6.43%
Western Cape	5 287 863	10.45%
TOTAL	49 991 300	100%

South Africa is a nation of diversity, with 50.58-million people and a variety of cultures, languages and religious beliefs.  According to Statistics South Africa's mid-2011 estimates, the country's population stands at 50 586 757 people.  Africans are in the majority at 40 206 275, making up 79.5% of the total population.  The white population is estimated at 4 565 825 (9%), the coloured population at 4 539 790 (9%) and the Indian/Asian population at 1 274 867 (2.5%). Females make up about 52% of the population, and males 48%.

MID-YEAR POPULATION ESTIMATES 2011
Population group	Number	% of total
African	40 206 275	79.5%
White	4 565 825	9%
Coloured	4 539 790	9%
Indian/Asian	1 274 867	2.5%
TOTAL	50 586 757	100%

• Afrikaans
• English
• isiNdebele
• isiXhosa
• isiZulu
• Sesotho sa Leboa
• Sesotho
• Setswana
• siSwati
• Tshivenda
• Xitsonga

Besides the official languages, scores of others – African, European, Asian and more – are spoken in South Africa, as the country lies at the crossroads of southern Africa.

According to the 2001 census, isiZulu is the most common home language is, spoken by nearly a quarter of the population. It is followed by isiXhosa at 17.6%, Afrikaans at 13.3%, Sepedi at 9.4%, and Setswana and English each at 8.2%.

Sesotho is the mother tongue of 7.9% of South Africans, while the remaining four official languages are spoken at home by less than 5% of the population each.

Most South Africans are multilingual, able to speak more than one language. English- and Afrikaans-speaking people tend not to have much ability in indigenous languages, but are fairly fluent in each other's language. Most South Africans speak English, which is fairly ubiquitous in official and commercial public life. The country's other lingua franca is isiZulu.

SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES 2001
Language	Number of speakers*	% of total
Afrikaans	5 983 420	13.35%
English	3 673 206	8.2%
IsiNdebele	711 825	1.59%
IsiXhosa	7 907 149	17.64%
IsiZulu	10 677 315	23.82%
Sesotho sa Leboa	4 208 974	9.39%
Sesotho	3 555 192	7.93%
Setswana	3 677 010	8.2%
SiSwati	1 194 433	2.66%
Tshivenda	1 021 761	2.28%
Xitsonga	1 992 201	4.44%
Other	217 291	0.48%
TOTAL	44 819 777	100%

According to the 2001 census the overwhelming majority of South Africans, or 79.8%, are Christian. The independent African Zion Christian churches predominate, being the faith of 15.3% of the total population, and 19.2% of all Christians.

Roughly 15% of the population has no religion, and 1.4% is undetermined about their faith. Islam is the religion of 1.5% of South Africans, Hinduism that of 1.2%, African traditional belief 0.3%, Judaism 0.2% and other beliefs 0.6%.

In terms of population groups, Christianity is most common among white and coloured South Africans, being the faith of 86.8% of the people in both groups. It's slightly less dominant among black South Africans, among whom it falls in line with the national average, being the religion of 79.9% of black people. Roughly a quarter (24.4%) of the Indian population is Christian.

The predominant form of Christianity among black South Africans is the independent and indigenous Zion Christian faith, the religion of 23.7% of black Christians. Black people also have the highest rate of unbelief, with 17.5% saying they have no religion, and 1.3% being undetermined. Most white South African Christians (42.8%) belong to the Reformed churches, such as the Dutch Reformed Church. Some 9.2% of white Christians are Methodist, 7.8% Pentecostal or Charismatic, 7.7% Apostolic and 7.6% Catholic. White people have the second-highest rate of unbelief, with 8.8% saying they have no religion and 2% being undetermined. Judaism is most common in this community, being the religion of 1.4% of white South Africans.

Predominant churches among coloured Christians are Apostolic (18.6%), Pentecostal or Charismatic (14.2%), Anglican (10.4%) and Catholic (10.2%). Of the other religions, Islam predominates, being the faith of 7.4% of all coloured South Africans. Only 3.8% of the coloured population says they have no religion, and 1.3% are undetermined.

Hinduism is the most common religion (47.3%) in the Indian/Asian population group, followed by Islam (24.7%) and Christianity (24.2%). There is a fairly even spread of churches among Indian and Asian Christians. This group is most certain of their faith, with only 2.3% reporting that they have no religion, and 0.94% being undecided.

RELIGIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Religion	Number	% of total
Christianity	35 750 641	79.8%
Islam	654 064	1.5%
Hinduism	551 668	1.2%
Judaism	75 549	0.2%
Other beliefs	283 815	0.6%
No religion	6 767 165	15%
Undetermined	610 974	1.4%
TOTAL	44 819 774	100%

At about 7% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 20% of total state expenditure, South Africa has one of the highest rates of public investment in education in the world.

School life spans 13 years or grades, from grade 0, otherwise known as grade R or "reception year", through to grade 12 or "matric" – the year of matriculation.

Under the South African Schools Act of 1996, education is compulsory for all South Africans from the age of seven (grade 1) to age 15, or the completion of grade 9.

According to the latest available statistics, South Africa had 12 644 208 pupils and students (also known as "learners") enrolled in all sectors of the education system, attending 30 586 educational institutions and served by 439 394 teachers and lecturers in 2010.

The breakdown of schools includes 25 850 ordinary schools and 4 736 other education institutions – namely, special schools, early childhood development (ECD) sites and special schools.

Of the total enrolled pupils, 11 810 224 (93.4%) were in public schools and 449 875 (3.6%) were in independent schools.

Of the pupils in other institutions, 279 476 (2.2%) were in ECD centres, and 104 633 (0.8%) were in special schools.

The total of 25 850 ordinary schools comprised 14 456 primary schools, with 5 992 863 pupils and 187 520 teachers; 6 231 secondary schools, with 3 831 937 pupils and 142 181 teachers; and 5 163 combined and intermediate schools, with 2 445 473 pupils and 88 408 teachers.

South Africa has a vibrant higher education sector, with nearly 900 000 students enrolled in the country's 23 state-funded tertiary institutions: 11 universities, six universities of technology, and six comprehensive institutions.

There are currently around 450 registered private FET colleges, which cover training provided from Grades 10 to 12, including career-oriented education and training.