General Information on the Country:

Area: 1,219,912 sq km

Land use:              arable land: 12.08%           permanent crops: 0.79%    other: 87.13% (2001) Climate: mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights 

Carbon Dioxide Emissions: 105.18 10x3 tons of Carbon

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

Population: 42,718,530

Population growth rate: -0.25% (2004 est.) 

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 21.5% (2003 est.) 

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Western Cape 

Economy

GDP: purchasing power parity - $456.7 billion (2004 est.) 

GDP - real growth rate: 1.9% (2004 est.) 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $10,700 (2004 est.) 

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 3.8%                             industry: 31%              services: 65.2% (2004 est.) 

Population below poverty line: 50% (2000 est.) 

Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products 

Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs 

Industrial production growth rate: 5% (2004 est.) 

Electricity - production: 195.6 billion kWh (2001) 

Electricity - consumption: 181.2 billion kWh (2001) 

Electricity - exports: 6.91 billion kWh (2001) 

Electricity - imports: 6.2 billion kWh (2001) 

Electricity Production from:

 - coal: 93,3 %                     - nuclear: 5,0 %                  - hydro: 1,7 %

Source: IEA Energy Statistics and The World Fact Book