South Africa is a country located in the southernmost part of Africa. It has an area of 1,219,912 square kilometers and a population of approximately 57 million people. The ethnic composition of South Africa is diverse, with the three largest groups being Black African (79.2%), Coloured (8.9%) and White (8.9%). The majority of the population are adherents to Christianity, with around 80% following the religion and the rest being either atheist or other faiths. Education is compulsory for children up to the age of 15 and the literacy rate is estimated to be around 94%. The official language is English but there are also many other languages spoken throughout the country such as Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and Northern Sotho. The capital city Pretoria has an estimated population of over 2 million people making it one of the largest cities in South Africa. Check hyperrestaurant to learn more about South Africa in 2009.
Social conditions
In the early 1990s, South Africa could best be described as two communities in a nation where the white minority enjoyed in-country conditions, while the non-white majority lived in developing countries. Visit AbbreviationFinder to see the definitions of ZA and acronym for South Africa. In addition to the multiple higher average income, the white minority received a disproportionately large share of both the public education budget and the health care budget. Of the non-white population, the residents lived with Asian, mainly Indian, origin under the best conditions, while so-called colored and, above all, Africans (blacks) had the most difficulty. Especially in the countryside, access to education, health care, work and housing was poor. Increasing immigration to the metropolitan regions since the 1980s led to closure, which in turn contributed to sharply increasing crime. Crime is still a major societal problem.
Land area | 1,219,090 km² |
Total population | 56,463,617 |
Residents per km² | 46.3 |
Capital | Pretoria (executive); Cape Town (Legislature); Bloemfontein (Judiciary) |
Official language | Afrikaans, English, Sotho, Swazi, Zulu, Xhosa and… (11 official languages in total) |
Income per capita | $ 13,600 |
Currency | South African rand |
ISO 3166 code | ZA |
Internet TLD | .za |
License plate | ZA |
Telephone code | +27 |
Time zone UTC | +2 |
Geographic coordinates | 29 00 S, 24 00 O |
When the ANC-led government took office in 1994, it started a reconstruction and development program to reduce the socio-economic gaps. Although South Africa is one of the continent’s richest countries and despite investment in housing construction and land reform, society is still characterized by great inequalities. While the standard of living of most whites can be compared to that of the world’s richest countries, a large part of the country’s other population lives in poverty, either in the countryside or in the slums of the metropolitan areas of the metropolitan areas. In 2006, about 20 percent of the total population lived in extreme poverty. In rural areas, about 20 percent lack access to clean water (2008). About every twenty children die during their first year of life. Check to see South Africa population.
Inequalities in society are very clear with regard to health care. For those who can afford the necessary insurance, care of the highest class is available. For others, the situation is worse. However, there are plans for an expansion of health care to make it accessible to all South Africans. On average, there are 28 hospital beds (2009) and eight doctors (2004) per 10,000 residents. In 2009, 9 percent of public spending went to health care. Qualified personnel are available for virtually all deliveries.
HIV/AIDS has long been a controversial issue in South Africa. Despite harsh criticism, mainly from abroad, President Thabo Mbeki refused to acknowledge an association between the HIV virus and AIDS. garlic and beetroot as a remedy. The Zuma administration has addressed the situation, but South Africa is still one of the world’s most affected countries; In 2009, 18 percent of the population aged 15-49 were estimated to be infected.
Increasing foreign and internal resistance
Outside South Africa, there was a marked increase in anti-apartheid work in the United States and Europe in particular. Pressed by public opinion, a number of Western governments and a growing number of businesses and banks were forced to reduce their activities in South Africa. In the United States, Congress repealed Reagan’s veto on financial penalties. The superpower had to change its “constructive compromise policy” in the area. In the same year, the South African internal political opposition formed the United Democratic Front (UDF, the United Democratic Front), consisting of over 600 legal organizations.
From the beginning of 1988, the government exhibited greater incompatibility with the opposition and banned all its organizations in February. Even religious leaders against apartheid such as Black Archbishop Desmond Tutu were detained. In 1984, Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on racial segregation policy. The trade union organization COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) that had been formed in 1985 was also fought – citing its subversive character. Internally in the ruling party, the crisis deepened and in August 89 Botha was forced to resign. He was replaced by Frederik de Klerk, who declared himself in favor of changes in the racist system. In 1990, the country had to refinance part of its $ 12 billion foreign debt, and therefore implemented some changes in racial segregation policy to better equip the international lending institutions.
In September 89 parliamentary elections were held, while the state of emergency from 1986 continued. The Popular Democratic Movement responded by calling for a general strike. It was a broad anti-apartheid coalition made up of all illegal organizations. Despite the repression, three million South Africans quit their jobs on the country’s historically largest protest day. The ruling party retained its parliamentary majority.
A few days later, the first wide and comprehensive demonstration against apartheid was held since 1959. The increasing mobilization was followed by repression and killing. But even within the white minority, more and more sectors joined the protests. In December 89, the opposition to a “Congress for a Democratic Future” gathered at the University of Johannesburg. Here it was agreed to make the principle of “a man, a voice” the basis of any negotiation with the government.