非洲:
埃塞俄比亚 Ethiopia 埃及 Egypt 突尼斯 Tunisia 阿尔及利亚 Algeria 尼日利亚 Nigeria 塞内加尔 Senegal 南非 South Africa 安哥拉 Angola 贝宁 Benin 布基纳法索 Burkina Faso 布隆迪 Republic of Burundi 博茨瓦纳 Republic of Botswana 赤道几内亚 Equatorial Guinea 多哥 Togo 厄立特里亚 Eritrea 佛得角 Republic of Cape Verde 冈比亚 Gambia 刚果 Republic of the Congo 刚果民主共和国 Democratic Republic of Congo 吉布提 Djibouti 几内亚 Guinea 几内亚比绍 Guinea-Bissau 加纳 Republic of Ghana 加蓬 Gabon 津巴布韦 Zimbabwe 喀麦隆 Republic of Cameroon 科摩罗 Comoros 科特迪瓦 Ivory Coast 肯尼亚 Republic of Kenya 莱索托 Kingdom of Lesotho 利比亚 Libya 利比里亚 Republic of Liberia 卢旺达 Republic of Rwanda 马达加斯加 Madagascar 马拉维 Malawi 马里 Republic of Mali 毛里塔尼亚 Mauritania 毛里求斯 Republic of Mauritius 摩洛哥 Kingdom of Morocco 莫桑比克 the Republic of Mozambique 纳米比亚 The Republic of Namibia 尼日尔 Niger 塞拉利昂 the Republic of Sierra Leone 塞舌尔 Seychelles 斯威士兰 Swaziland 苏丹 Sudan 索马里 Somalia 圣多美和普林西比 Sao Tome and Principe 坦桑尼亚 Tanzania 乌干达 The Republic of Uganda 赞比亚 The Republic of Zambia 乍得 the Republic of Chad 中非共和国 The Central African Republic |
| 南非 South Africa 首都:比勒陀利亞 國家代碼: za |
 南非國旗 南非國旗在１９９４年３月１５日由南非多黨過渡行政委員會批準了新國旗。新國旗呈長方形，長與寬之比約為３∶２，由黑、黃、緑、紅、白、藍六色的幾何圖案構成，象徵種族和解、民族團结。 國徽 南非國徽南非為了讓歷史給未來以啓示，决定沿用原“南非聯邦”的盾形國徽。盾徽從中一分為四：左上方身着白色長裙的“希望女神”代表好望角省；右上方兩衹褐色非洲大羚羊代表納塔爾省；左下方的柑桔樹是奧倫治自由邦的象徵；右下方一輛行進在緑色大地上的牛拉篷車是德蘭士瓦的標志。盾徽的頂部繪有荷蘭議會的徽章圖案；底部的緑色山崗上鑲嵌着一條白色飾帶，上面用拉丁文寫着南非人民的座右銘：“團结就是力量”。 國歌 南非國歌為《上帝保佑非洲》和《南非的吶喊》Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica & Die Stem van Suid Afrika合編麯。 １９９５年５月，南非正式通過新的國歌，新國歌的歌詞用祖魯、哲豪薩、蘇托、英語和南非語５種語言寫成，包括原國歌《上帝保佑非洲》的祈禱詞，全歌長１分３５秒，並以原國歌《南非之聲》雄壯的高音麯調作結尾。 原國歌名為《上帝保佑非洲》，１９９４年３月１５日批準。歌麯由黑人牧師諾剋·桑湯加在１８９７年譜寫，１９１２年首次在南非土著人國民大會上作為黑人民族主義贊歌唱出來，在非洲深受廣大黑人歡迎。 首都 南非是世界上唯一同時存在３個首都的國傢，行政首都比勒陀利亞 Pretoria是南非中央政府所在地，人口：２２０萬；立法首都開普敦 Cape Town是南非國會所在地，是全國第二大城市和重要港口，位於西南端，為重要的國際海運航道交匯點，人口３００萬；司法首都布隆方丹 Bloemfontein為全國司法機構的所在地，人口５０萬。 國花 帝王花 語言 英語、阿非利堪斯語 國石 鑽石 節日 新年 １月１日 人權日 ３月２１日 受難日 復活節前的星期五 復活節 每年過春分月圓後第一個星期五至下星期一 家庭日 復活節後的星期一 自由日 ４月２７日（１９９４年） 勞動節 ５月１日 獨立日 ５月３１日（１９６１年） 國慶日 ５月３１日（１９６１年） 青年日 ６月１６日（紀念１９７６年索韋托慘案） 婦女日 ８月９日 遺産日（傳統節） ９月２４日 和解日 １２月１６日（阿非利卡人的節日，祖魯人稱之為和解日） 聖誕節 １２月２５日 友好日 １２月２６日 國傢政要 總統塔博·姆武耶盧瓦·姆貝基 Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki，２００４年４月蟬聯總統。 南非前總統為納爾遜·羅利赫拉赫拉·曼德拉Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 、德剋勒剋 de Klerk。 民族 祖魯、科薩、茨瓦納等部族。民族68.2%為黑人，3.3%為亞洲人，18%為白人，10.5%為有色人。 宗教 基督教新教和天主教占80%，其它20%。 貨幣 南非蘭特 Rand 符號：R，國際標志：ZAR，1 Rand (R) = 100 cents 兌換率(約)1蘭特=1.9955港元=0.2545美元 由南非儲備銀行（中央銀行）發行，1蘭特等於100分(Cents) 。目前流通的貨幣有5、10、20、5O蘭特紙幣及1、2、5、10、20、50分和1、2蘭特的鑄幣。 人口 ４６９０萬（南非統計局２００５年中估計），主要由黑人、白人、有色人和亞裔四大種族構成，分別占總人口的７９.５％、９.１％、８.９％和２.５％。黑人主要有祖魯、科薩、斯威士、茨瓦納、北索托、南索托、聰加、文達、恩德貝萊等９個部族，主要使用班圖語。白人主要是荷蘭血統的阿非利卡人（約占５７％）和英國血統的白人（約占３９％），語言為阿非利卡語和英語。有色人是殖民時期白人、土著人和奴隸的混血人後裔，主要使用阿非利卡語。亞洲人主要是印度人（約占９９％）和華人。有１１種官方語言，英語和阿非利卡語（南非荷蘭語）為通用語言。居民主要信奉基督教新教、天主教、伊斯蘭教和原始宗教。 語言 南非的官方語言有11種，它們分別是： Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu 將英語作為母語的人數並不是最多，但是很多南非人都理解英語。根據人口統計調查，南非的前五大語言分別是祖魯語（30%）、科薩語（18%）、阿菲力康語（14%）、斯佩迪語（9%）、英語（9%）。 行政區劃 1910年至1993年，南非劃分為4個省：開普省、德蘭士瓦省、納塔爾省和奧蘭治自由邦 1993年11月18日，南非多黨談判會議通過《臨時憲法草案》，對南非的行政區劃進行了較大的調整，將全國劃分為9個省： 東開普省 (Eastern Cape Province) 奧蘭治自由邦 (Free State Province) (Orange Free State) 豪登省 (Gauteng Province) 誇祖魯－納塔爾省 (KwaZulu-Natal Province) 普馬蘭加省 (Mpumalanga Province) 林波波省 (Limpopo Province) 北開普省 (Northern Cape Province) 西北省 (North West Province) 西開普省 (Western Cape Province) 各省有立法、任免公務人員的權力，負責本省經濟、財政和稅收等事務。根據２０００年通過的《地方政府選舉法》，全國共劃有２８４個地方政府，包括６個大都市、４７個地區委員會和２３１個地方委員會。 重要城鎮 墨西拿 (Messina) 彼得斯堡 (Pietersburg) 馬弗京 (Mafeking) 約翰內斯堡 (Johannesburg) 斯普林斯 (Springs) 韋爾科姆 (Welkom) 萊迪史密斯 (Ladysmith) 德班 (Durban) 金伯利 (Kimberly) 德阿爾 (De Aar) 東倫敦 (East London) 伊麗莎白港 (Port Elizabeth) 莫塞爾貝 (Mosselbaai) 西博褔特 (Beaufort West) 伍斯特 (Worcester) 口蒙斯敦 (Simon's Town) 卡爾維尼亞 (Calvinia) 斯普林博剋 (Springbok) 諾洛斯港 (Port Nolloth) 口平頓 (Upington) 簡史 南非最早的土著居民是桑人、科伊人和後來南遷的班圖人。１７世紀後，荷蘭、英國相繼入侵南非。２０世紀初，南非曾一度成為英國的自治領地。１９６１年５月３１日，南非退出英聯邦，成立南非共和國。由於南非白人當局在國內推行種族歧視和種族隔離政策，南非人民在以曼德拉為首的非洲人國民大會的領導下，為推翻種族隔離制度，進行了英勇的鬥爭，並最終取得勝利。１９９４年４月，南非舉行首次由各種族參加的大選，曼德拉當選為南非首任黑人總統。 自然地理 南非位於非洲大陸最南端，東、西、南三面瀕臨印度洋和大西洋，緯度自22至35，經度從17至33。海岸綫3,000公裏。位於開普敦東南1,920公裏處大西洋上的愛德華王子島及馬裏昂島亦為南非領土。北與納米比亞、博茨瓦納、津巴布韋、莫桑比剋和斯威士蘭接壤，另有“國中之國”萊索托。南非地處兩大洋間的航運要衝，其西南端的好望角 Cape of Good Hope航綫歷來是世界上最繁忙的海上通道之一，有“西方海上生命綫”之稱。國土面積約１２２萬平方公裏。全境大部分為海拔６００米以上高原。德拉肯斯山脈綿亙東南，卡斯金峰高達３６６０米，為全國最高點；西北部為沙漠，是卡拉哈裏盆地的一部分；北部、中部和西南部為高原；沿海是窄狹平原。奧蘭治河和林波波河為兩大主要河流。大部分地區屬熱帶草原氣候，東部沿海為熱帶季風氣候，南部沿海為地中海氣候。全境氣候分為春夏秋鼕４季。１２月－２月為夏季，最高氣溫可達３２─３８℃；６－８月是鼕季，最低氣溫為—１０至—１２℃。全年降水量由東部的１０００毫米逐漸減少到西部的６０毫米，平均４５０毫米。首都比勒陀利亞年平均氣溫１７℃。 時差 南非時區為GMT+02:00，比北京時間晚6小時。 新聞出版 南非定期出版的報刊數量居非洲之首。有22份日報、13份周報，百餘種省和地方性報紙。發行量最大的有：《星期日時報》（英文）、《報道報》（ 阿非利卡語）、《城市報》（英文）、《索韋托人報》（英文）、《星報》（英文）、《公民報》（英文）。其中《星期日時報》、《報道報》和《星期日獨立報》是全國性報紙。 南非新聞聯合社(South Africa Press Association), 是全國性新聞機構。南非廣播公司（SABC）下轄廣播電臺和電視臺。廣播電臺用11種語言對國內進行22套節目的廣播，每周播音3492小時；用4種語言以“非洲頻道”名義對國外進行廣播，每周播音208小時。電視臺有6個頻道，其中3個官方頻道使用11種語言播放。M－NET是非洲最有影響力的收費電視頻道。 二、政治 以非國大為主體的民族團结政府奉行和解、穩定、發展的政策，妥善處理種族矛盾，全面推行社會變革，實施"重建與發展計劃"、"賦予黑人權力計劃"和"肯定行動"，努力提高黑人政治、經濟和社會地位，順利實現由白人政權嚮多種族聯合政權的平穩過渡。1996年國民黨退出民族團结政府，非國大基本實現單獨執政。 1999年6月，南非舉行第二次不分種族的大選。非國大以66.35%的壓倒多數再次獲勝。民主黨、因卡塔自由黨、新國民黨分別以9.56%、8.58%、6.87%的得票率列第二、三、四位。非國大主席姆貝基出任總統，副主席祖馬任副總統，因卡塔自由黨成員應邀加入新一屆政府。姆貝基政府在註意保持政策連續性的同時，強化政府職能，加速社會改革進程，政局繼續保持穩定。但黑白種族矛盾和貧富懸殊仍較突出，犯罪、失業、艾滋病等社會問題比較嚴重。 2000年6月，兩大白人反對黨民主黨與新國民黨宣佈合併為民主聯盟。同年12月，新南非舉行第二次地方政府選舉。各主要政黨在全國的得票率分別為：非國大59.38％，民主聯盟22.12％，因卡塔自由黨9.14％。2001年10月，新國民黨領袖範斯考剋韋剋宣佈新國民黨退出民盟。 2002年4月，非國大、南非共和南非工會大會舉行三方聯盟峰會，通過了《愛庫魯萊尼宣言》和《加快經濟增長和發展的共同綱領》，大會重申三方聯盟的團结和統一，把推動經濟增長和發展確定為三方聯盟的中心任務。12月，非國大召開第51屆全國代表大會，姆貝基等主要領導人當選連任，大會再次呼籲加強三方聯盟團结，強調政府將繼續推進既定的宏觀經濟政策，努力落實"提高黑人經濟實力"目標。 10月，經憲法法院裁定後的《變更黨籍法》首先在地方議會實施。該法允許議員改換黨籍後保留議員資格。年內共有555名地方議員轉換黨籍，22個地方政府因此改為由非國大、新國民黨或兩黨聯合執政。 憲法 1994年臨時憲法是南非歷史上第一部體現種族平等的憲法。1996年，在臨時憲法的基礎上起草的新憲法被正式批準，並於1997年起開始分階段實施。新憲法保留了臨時憲法中的權利法案、三權分立係統、聯邦製政府管理體製和現行司法體係的重大製憲原則和內容, 對臨時憲法做的主要修改是，1999年大選後，各政黨按比例分享權力改為由大選中的多數黨執政。 議會 南非的議會分為國民議會和全國省級事務委員會。國民議會共設400個議席，200個席位通過全國大選産生，另200個席位由省級選舉産生，其中非國大266席，民主黨38席，因卡塔自由黨34席，新國民黨28席，聯合民主運動14席，非洲基督教民主黨6席，其餘席位由自由陣綫等7個政黨持有。全國省級事務委員會（前身為參議院）共設90個議席，每省10個議席，其中54個永久議席中非國大34席，民主黨、新國民黨各7席，其餘由因卡塔自由黨、聯合民主運動等持有。國民議會議長弗雷納·金瓦拉（Frene Ginwala,女），全國省級事務委員會主席納萊蒂·潘多爾（Naledi Pandor,女）。南非議會現設有兩院共同參與的臨時性特委會1個、聯合常設委員會5個。國民議會下設專門委員會26個、常設委員會1個。全國省級事務委員會下設特別委員會9個。 政府 政府實行總統內閣製，由總統、副總統及27位部長組成，其中非國大部長24名，因卡塔自由黨部長3名。主要成員如下：總統塔博·姆貝基，副總統雅各布·祖馬（JACOB ZUMA），國防部長帕特裏剋·勒科塔（PATRICK LEKOTA），外交部長恩科薩紮納·德拉米尼－祖馬（NKOSAZANA DLAMINI-ZUMA,女），財政部長特萊瓦爾·馬紐爾（TREVOR MANUEL），貿工部長艾裏剋·歐文（ALEC ERWIN），內政部長曼戈蘇圖·布特萊齊（MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI，因卡塔自由黨），農業及土地事務部長托科·姆薩尼－迪迪紮 （THOKO MSANE-DIDIZA,女），礦業和能源部長弗姆齊莉·姆蘭博－恩格庫卡（PHUMZILE MLAMBO-NGCUKA 女），公共企業部長傑夫·拉迪拜（JEFF RADEBE），環境和旅遊部長瓦利·穆薩（VALLI MOOSA），文化藝術和科技部長本·恩古巴尼 （BEN NGUBANE，因卡塔自由黨），安全部長查爾斯·恩誇庫拉（CHARLES NQAKULA）等。 司法機構 由憲法法院、最高法院、高級法院、地方法院組成。憲法法院院長亞瑟·查斯卡爾森（ARTHUR CHASKALSON）。最高法院首席大法官伊斯梅爾·馬霍麥德（ISMAIL MAHOMED）。 政黨 南非實行多黨製。國民議會現有13個政黨。 （1）南非非洲人國民大會(African National Congress of South Africa): 簡稱非國大，主要執政黨，最大的黑人民族主義政黨。主張建立統一、民主和種族平等的南非，領導了南非反種族主義鬥爭。創立於1912年，1925年改現名，有成員70萬。曾長期主張非暴力鬥爭。1960年被南非當局宣佈為"非法"組織，主要領導人流亡國外。1961年决定開展武裝鬥爭，成立名為"民族之矛"的軍事組織，曼德拉任司令。1962年，曼德拉等人被捕。非國大在極其睏難的條件下堅持鬥爭，獲得國內外的廣泛同情和支持，逐漸成為南非影響最大的黑人解放組織。80年代後調整鬥爭策略，確定政治解决南非問題和靈活處理製憲談判的戰略，在南非平穩過渡過程中發揮了關鍵作用。1994年4月成為執政黨。1997年12月舉行第50次全國代表大會，曼德拉辭去主席職務，選舉産生以姆貝基為首的新的領導集體。在1999年6月南非第二次大選中再次獲勝，繼續執政。在9省地方選舉中贏得7省絶對多數，並與因卡塔自由黨在誇祖魯／納塔爾省聯合執政。2000年12月新南非第二次地方政府選舉中，在約翰內斯堡等5個大都市的170個地方政府中獲多數。2002年12月舉行第51次全國代表大會，姆貝基連任主席。副主席雅各布·祖馬，全國主席帕特裏剋·勒科塔，總書記卡萊馬·莫特蘭蒂(Kgalema Motlanthe)。 （2）民主聯盟（Democratic Alliance）:由原民主黨與新國民黨於2000年6月合併而成，第一大反對黨。主要成員為白人。兩黨領導人托尼·裏昂（Tony Leon）、馬蒂尼斯·範斯考剋韋剋（Mathinus van Shalkwyk）分別任一、二把手，指導思想和原則基本沿用民主黨的行動綱領。在2004年大選前，兩黨議員仍將在國民議會中保持各自政黨屬性。雙方在民盟旗幟下參加了2000年12月的地方政府選舉，並在包括開普敦大都市的18個地方政府中勝出。2001年10月，新國民黨退出民主聯盟。現民主聯盟主要由民主黨和部分原新國民黨成員組成，領袖托尼·裏昂。①民主黨 ( Democratic Party ): 1989年4月由原進步聯邦黨、全國民主運動和獨立黨三個左翼白人政黨合併而成，主要代表英裔白人工商金融界利益。是白人"自由派"左翼政黨，主張廢除種族隔離，積極參與南非和平進程。新南非誕生後，該黨定位於更富建設性和進取性的反對黨，實力不斷擴大。1999年大選後取代新國民黨成為最大反對黨。②新國民黨(New National Party)：前身為國民黨，1998年9月改稱現名，並更換了新的黨旗和標志。1914年成立，主要代表荷裔白人農牧場主和資産階級的利益。1948年至1994年4月期間單獨執政。曾長期推行種族歧視和種族隔離政策。80年代中期後在南非人民長期鬥爭和國際社會的強大壓力下，政策主張發生變化。1990年嚮所有種族開放，在南非問題政治解决進程中發揮了積極作用。1994年大選後作為第二大執政黨進入民族團结政府，1996年6月退出政府，成為最大反對黨。1997年，內部分化加劇，總書記梅耶退黨，德剋勒剋宣佈辭職。該黨原行政主任馬蒂尼斯·範斯考剋韋剋當選為國民黨第八任領袖。囿於種族隔離歷史包袱，在南非政壇影響日漸勢微，1999年大選中淪為第四大黨，但憑藉其在西開普省有色人中的傳統影響，與民主黨聯手在西省繼續執政。2001年10月退出民主聯盟，並與非國大在西開普省聯合執政。 （3）因卡塔自由黨(Inkatha Freedom Party)：以誇祖魯/納塔爾地區祖魯族為主的黑人民族主義政黨，參政黨。前身是"民族文化解放運動"，成立於1928年，1975年重建。1990年嚮所有種族開放，改為政黨並用現名。自稱有成員220萬。以爭取黑人解放為宗旨，主張通過和平談判解决南非問題。1994年4月在大選中得票率居第三位，進入民族團结政府。1996年後在誇祖魯/納塔爾省主政。1999年大選後繼續參加中央政府,與非國大在誇/納省聯合執政。2000年地方政府選舉中贏得36個地方政府多數。2002年《變更黨籍法》引發該黨與非國大矛盾。領袖：布特萊齊。 （4）南非共産黨(South African Communist Party): 非國大重要政治盟友，"三方聯盟"之一。非國大領導層中近三分之一是南非共成員。1994年在非國大旗幟下參加大選並獲50餘個議席，4人被任命為內閣部長。1999年大選獲得近80個議席，其中6人被委任內閣部長。1921年7月成立。1950年被南非當局宣佈為"非法"組織。1990年2月重新獲得合法地位。現有黨員近1.4萬人。始終將實現共産主義作為其最終奮鬥目標，堅持"社會主義的工人階級政黨"性質，但認為南非基本上是一個經過特殊殖民主義發展的，依附性較強的資本主義社會，當前的任務仍是推進以黑人徹底解放為目標的民族民主革命。總書記布萊德·恩齊曼迪(Blade Nzimande)。 （5）聯合民主運動（United Democratic Movement）:1997年9月成立,是由原新運動進程和全國協商論壇合併而成的跨種族政黨。1999年6月大選中成為第五大黨。2000年地方政府選舉中在1個地方政府獲多數。其主要影響在東開普省的原特蘭斯凱"黑人傢園"地區。領袖班圖·霍羅米薩（Bantubonke Holomisa）。 （6）阿紮尼亞泛非主義者大會( Pan Africanist Congress of Azania )：簡稱泛非大，黑人民族主義政黨。1959年4月由非國大內一部分反對奉行非暴力政策的成員組成。主張開展武裝鬥爭，推翻白人統治，實現非洲人的自决權，建立泛非社會主義民主國傢。1960年被南非當局宣佈為"非法"組織，主要領導人流亡國外。1961年建立軍事組織"波戈"，開展武裝鬥爭。1990年恢復合法地位。1994年和1999年大選中得票率均不高。在城市青年和農村黑人激進組織中有些影響。主席斯坦利·莫霍巴（Stanley Mogoba）。 此外，其他政黨還有:非洲基督教民主黨（African Christian Democratic Party）、自由陣綫（Freedom Front）、聯邦聯盟（Federal Allies）、聯合基督教民主黨（United Christian Democratic Party）、阿紮尼亞人民組織( Azanian People's Organisation)等。 三、經濟 南非屬於中等收入的發展中國傢。國內生産總值約占全非22％，對外貿易占全非24％，是非洲經濟最發達的國傢。自然資源豐富，是世界五大礦産國之一。金融、法律體係比較完善，通訊、交通、能源等基礎設施良好。礦業、製造業和農業是經濟三大支柱，深礦開採等技術居於世界領先地位。但國民經濟各部門發展水平、地區分佈不平衡，二元製經濟特徵明顯。80年代初期至90年代初期，受國際經濟製裁經濟出現衰退。新南非政府製定了 "重建與發展計劃"（RDP），強調提高黑人社會、經濟地位。1996年推出"增長、就業、再分配"(GEAR)的宏觀經濟政策，旨在通過國有部門私有化、削減財政赤字、增加勞動力市場靈活性、促進出口、放鬆外匯管製、鼓勵中小企業發展等措施實現經濟增長，增加就業，逐步改變分配不合理的情況。姆貝基政府執行嚴謹的財政和貨幣政策，逐步推動國有資産重組和私有化進程，推進勞動力市場和貿易領域的結構調整，適時增加社會服務投入。新南非經濟總體保持低速增長。２００２年，在全球經濟不景氣的情況下，南非經濟增勢強勁，農業、製造業、旅遊業增長較快，外貿盈餘增加，本幣匯率較強反彈。但失業率居高不下、收入分配嚴重不均等問題依然存在，增強黑人經濟實力是南非面臨的長期問題。 國內生産總值（2002年）：1017億美元。 人均國內生産總值（2002年）：2255美元。 國內生産總值年增長率（2002年）：3％。 貨幣名稱：蘭特（Rand）１蘭特＝100分（CENT）。 匯率（2002年12月）： 1美元＝8.75蘭特。 通貨膨脹率（2002年）：8.8％。 失業率（2002年）：29.5%。 資源 礦産資源豐富，現已探明儲量並開採的礦産有70餘種。黃金、鉑族金屬、錳、釩、鉻、鈦、硅鋁酸????的儲量居世界第一位，蛭石、鋯居第二位，氟石、磷酸????居第三位，銻、鈾居第四位，煤、鑽石、鉛居第五位，鋅居第六位，鐵礦石居第九位，銅居第十三位。根據南非礦務局提供的數據，1998年已探明的礦藏儲量：黃金35877噸（占世界總儲量的35％，下同），鉑族金屬62816噸（55.7％），錳40億噸（80％），釩1200萬噸（44.5％），蛭石8000萬噸（40％），鉻31億噸（68.3％）、硅鋁酸????5080萬噸（37.4％），鈾28.44萬噸（9.3％），煤553.33億噸（10.6％），鐵礦石15億噸（0.9％），鈦1.46億噸（21％），鋯1430萬噸（22.1％），氟石3600萬噸（9.6％），磷酸????25億噸（7.2％），銻2.5億噸（5.3％），鉛300萬噸（2.1％），鋅1500萬噸（3.4％）銅1300萬噸（2.1％）。 工業 製造業、建築業、能源業和礦業是南非工業四大部門。 製造業門類齊全，技術先進。主要産品有鋼鐵、金屬製品、化工、運輸設備、機器製造、食品加工、紡織、服裝等。鋼鐵工業是南非製造業的支柱，擁有六大鋼鐵聯合公司、130多傢鋼鐵企業。製造業産值近國內生産總值的五分之一。雇傭勞動力占全國14.8%。1999年製造業産值1326.4億蘭特，約占國內生産總值的25％。 1994－1999年，南非政府共籌集投入125億蘭特建設低造價住房，以緩解黑人城鎮居民住房問題，但項目進展緩慢。1999年建築業産值209.17億蘭特。 南非電力工業較發達，發電量占全非洲的2/3，為世界上電費最低的國傢之一。1999年電力、燃料與水力部門産值237.86億蘭特。國營公司ESKOM是世界上第四大電力生産和第五大電力銷售企業，擁有世界上最大的幹冷發電站，供應南非95％和全非60％的用電量。1998年南非總發電量1913億度，其中約92％為火力發電。1999年ESKOM發電量1734億度。在開普敦附近建有非洲大陸唯一的核電站－Koeberg核電站，發電能力184.4萬千瓦。1999年南非生産了161.65萬噸天然氣和30.09萬噸冷凝液體燃料。此外，南非SASOL公司的煤合成燃油與天然氣合成燃油技術比較成熟。 1998年礦業與相關行業産值約占國內生産總值的14％（其中礦業占6.6％），初級礦産品出口銷售額占全部出口收入的34.3％。2000年礦業産值983億蘭特。 南非是世界最大的黃金生産國和出口國，黃金出口額占全部對外出口額的三分之一。但近年來因國際市場黃金價格下跌，鉑族金屬已逐漸取代黃金成為最主要的出口礦産品。南非還是世界第五大鑽石生産國，産量約占世界的8.7％。南非德比爾斯公司是世界上最大的鑽石生産和銷售公司，總資産200億美元，其營業額一度占世界鑽石供應市場90％的份額，目前仍控製着世界粗鑽石貿易的60％。 農牧漁業 農業較發達。可耕地約占土地面積的13％，但肥沃土地僅占可耕地的22％。灌溉面積1300萬公頃。農業生産總值約占國內生産總值的4.1％，並提供13％的正式就業機會。農業生産受氣候變化影響明顯。正常年份糧食除自給外還可出口。主要農作物是玉米。2000年産量為1060萬噸。農産品和農産品加工産品出口占非黃金出口收入中的30％。各類罐頭食品、煙、酒、咖啡和飲料暢銷海外。盛産花卉、水果，葡萄酒享有盛譽。 畜牧業較發達。1999年南非共畜養牛1360萬頭，綿羊2870萬頭，豬150萬頭，山羊650萬頭。所需肉類85％自給，15％從納米比亞、博茨瓦納和斯威士蘭等鄰國進口。 水産養殖業産量占全非洲5％和世界的0.03％。南非商業捕撈船隊有各種船衹500多艘。全國約有2.8萬人從事海洋捕撈業。主要捕撈種類為淡菜、鱒魚、牡蠣和開普無須鱈。每年捕撈量約58萬噸，産值近20億蘭特。此外，南非養蜂業年産值約2000萬蘭特。 旅遊業 旅遊業是南非第三大外匯收入來源和就業部門。旅遊業産值占國內生産總值的3%左右。旅遊資源豐富，設施完善。有700多傢大飯店，2800多傢大小賓館、旅館及10000多傢飯館。旅遊點主要集中於東北部和東、南沿海地區。生態旅遊與民俗旅遊是南非旅遊業兩大最主要的增長點。2002年到南非旅遊的外國旅客達643萬人次。但南非高犯罪率對充分挖掘其旅遊業潛力有負面影響。 美國拉斯維加斯在貧脊的沙漠中，成為揚名國際的娛樂之城，而位於南非的太陽城（Sun City），同樣也以豪華而完整的設備及渾然天成的自然美景，吸引了世人的目光，幾乎是所有到南非旅遊的觀光客不會錯過的好地方。 太陽城 在南非，太陽城就是娛樂、美食、賭博、舒適、浪漫加上驚奇的同義字，很少人能擺脫他的迷人魅力。 太陽城位於南非第一大城約翰尼斯堡的西北方187公裏處。事實上，它是位於南非與博茨瓦納（Botswana）的邊境上，當年，要不是南非種族隔離主義，將這塊邊境土地列為“不管地帶”，同意在此地可以進行“非正常性”（immoral）的娛樂活動（衹設賭博場所），這座著名豪華的娛樂城也許就不存在了。 太陽城是南非億萬富翁梭爾·科斯納（Sol Kerzner）的一個夢想。科斯納在70年代中期，就開始構思設置，希望能夠在非洲叢林內，建造一個如美國拉斯維加斯般的豪華娛樂區。 在這裏，你可以到人造海去遊泳。別小看它衹是人造海，還可製造2公尺高的浪潮衝浪池、供遊客衝浪。還有5條各種坡度的滑水梯，沿水勢而下，讓遊客享受刺激的快感，其中2條藏於山岩之間，宛若地下急湍水道， 滑下去的時間是大約3秒，膽子稍小者，諒也不敢玩。如果你不喜歡遊泳，那也不要緊，大可去打高爾夫球，在世界級的高爾夫球場，感受一下與世界高手同場打球的滋味；再不，也可以玩水上活動。總之，你想得出的活動，這裏都會有。 最刺激的是莫過於“時光之橋”（Bridge of Time），這是一座約100公尺長的人行橋，它每隔1小時例會發出“轟隆轟隆”的巨響，給人一種山崩地裂的恐怖地震火山爆發的感覺。科斯納設計這座橋的目的，就想告訴人們：當年美麗的失落之城就是被一場大地震，火山的岩漿淹沒掉。 然而太陽城最著名的還是賭城，進入賭城，誰都會被它內部賭博機的擺放數量之多而吃驚。如果你厭煩了賭博機，這裏還有紙牌、輪盤、巴剋拉(一種紙牌賭博)等其它內容。 太陽城(Sun City)是南非最豪華，也是知名度最高的度假村(Resort)。幾乎是所有到南非旅遊的觀光客不會錯過的好地方。 在南非，太陽城就是娛樂、美食、賭博、舒適、浪漫加上驚奇的同義字，很少人能擺脫他的迷人魅力。尤其是太陽城內的失落城(Lost City)，是個耗資8億3千萬蘭德所打造出來的娛樂城，有處令人屏息的人造森林，和動感十足的人工海浪遊泳池，城內的皇宮飯店(The Palace Hotel)，以金碧輝煌和尊貴舒適等特色，名列世界十大飯店之列。 花園大道 從莫塞爾港(Mossel Bay)到斯托姆河(Storms River)連續255公裏的一級海濱公路被稱為花園大道，也是南非最著名的風景之一。花園大道與湖泊、山脈、黃金海灘、懸崖峭壁和茂密原始森林叢生的海岸綫平行，沿途可見清澈的河流自歐坦尼科與齊齊卡馬山脈流入蔚藍的大海。在內陸部分，有海拔在1000-1700米的奧特尼誇、齊齊卡馬山脈橫跨東西。越過這個山脈，就是奧茨鬍恩等平原地帶了，從途中的關口要道眺望連綿群山，景色十分壯美。莫塞爾港(Mossel Bay)、喬治(George)、美麗的剋尼斯納(Knysna)和國傢公園之一的原野(Wilderness)、普萊騰貝格灣(Plettenbers Bay)、齊齊卡馬海岸國傢公園(Tsitsikamma Coast National Park)是主要觀光景點。剋尼斯納(Knysna)擁有令人難以置信的海洋與山峰美景，有一個寧靜的礁湖－南非國內最佳帆船遊艇、遊泳與釣魚場所。 此外天然生蚝是當地的特産，最挑剔的美食傢也認為剋尼斯納(Knysna)的生蚝為世上最佳美味。 花園大道鼕季的平均氣溫在13℃左右；夏季溫度在25℃以上的的時間也很少，氣候溫暖。一年當中都可以進行遊泳、賽艇、帆船、劃水、衝浪、鳥類觀察，以及高爾夫、網球、騎車旅行等大部分陸上、水上運動。此外，有蒸汽機車（Outenoqua Choo-TJoe Train）通過這個地區最美的地帶，也是花園路綫主要觀光內容之一。 花園路綫是南非旅遊開發最發達的地區，從四星級飯店到帳篷場，有各種各樣的住宿、娛樂設施。1月下旬-5月是緑色季節，價格上浮30％以上；12月-次年1月和復活節的期間，從歐洲來的避寒遊客很多，價格高到平時的2倍。即使是這樣，客房也是預約全滿，到處都很擁擠。相反，在雨和霧較多的8-10月，大多數地方的住宿價格也大幅度下降。在這個時間來休假，面對碧海青山悠閑地側耳聆聽鳥和動物的叫聲，將自己完全投入大自然的懷抱，是不可多得的經歷。 交通運輸 有非洲最完善的交通運輸係統，對本國以及鄰國的經濟發揮着重要作用。以鐵路、公路為主，空運發展迅速。近年來加強了城鎮及經濟開發區交通基礎設施建設，航空、公路國營公司的私有化進程已邁入實質性階段。 鐵路：總長約3.41萬公裏，其中1.82萬公裏為電氣化鐵路，有電氣機車2000多輛。年度貨運量約1.75億噸。由比勒陀利亞駛往開普敦的豪華藍色客車享有國際聲譽。 公路：總長約23.2萬公裏，分為國傢、省及地方三級。其中國傢級公路中雙嚮高速公路1440公裏，單嚮高速公路292公裏，單嚮大道4401公裏，收費公路1000公裏。年客運量約450萬人次，貨運量310萬輛。 水運：海洋運輸業發達，與非洲以外國傢貿易的99％要靠海運來完成。主要港口有開普敦、德班、東倫敦、伊麗莎白港、理查茲、薩爾達尼亞和莫瑟爾拜。有商船990艘，總噸位75.5萬噸。年港口吞吐量約為12億噸。德班是非洲最繁忙的港口及最大的集裝箱集散地，集裝箱日處理量達3500個。 空運：共有各類航運飛機5900多架，其中南非航空公司擁有包括30餘架波音飛機和15架空中客車在內的各類民航機共48架，是世界最大的50傢航空公司之一。每周有600多個國內航班和70多個國際航班，與非洲、歐洲、亞洲及中東、南美一些國傢直接通航。主要國際機場有約翰內斯堡國際機場、德班國際機場和開普敦國際機場等。約翰內斯堡國際機場是非洲大陸最為繁忙的機場，預計到2005年年接待旅客量將達1800萬人次。 管道運輸：石油管道931公裏，其他石化産品管道1748公裏，天然氣管道322公裏。 通訊網絡 南非通訊和網絡技術産業發展較快，是世界第20大信息和通訊技術市場。電話綫530萬條，占非洲的40％，移動電話用戶441萬，是其他非洲國傢總和的3倍。固定上網人口150萬，是非洲其他國傢總和的5倍。南非電信公司TELKOM是世界第28大電信公司；最大的兩傢信息技術公司DIDATA和DATATEC已在英美市場占有一席之地。其衛星直播和網絡技術水平在世界上競爭力較強，南非多選公司（MIH）已壟斷了撒哈拉以南非洲的絶大部分衛星直播業務。軟件業也開始走嚮國際市場。 財政金融 近年來財政收支情況如下: (單位:億蘭特) 2000/01 2001/02 收 入 1984.94 2155.92 支 出 2164.05 2339.44 赤字或盈餘 -179.11 -183.52 2002年，經常項目盈餘3.1億美元，黃金和外匯儲備62億美元。外債總額322億美元。 南非儲備銀行( The South African Reserve Bank ) ，是中央銀行，始建於1920年，為股份有限銀行，除行長與副行長由政府任命外，享有很大的獨立决策權。總部設在比勒陀利亞。1999年資産725.95億蘭特。 有60傢商業銀行（包括13傢外國銀行分行），此外還有57傢外國銀行在南非設有代表處。截至1998年底，60傢銀行共設立了3251個辦公點，雇傭了124407名員工。最大的四傢銀行是： 南非混合銀行( Amalgamated Banks of South Africa Limited )是南非最大的銀行集團，總資産287億美元，成立於1991年。 標準銀行投資有限公司（Standard Bank Investment Corporation Ltd. )，總資産275億美元，成立於1969年。 南部非洲第一國民銀行( First National Bank of Southern Africa Ltd. )，成立於1971 年，總資産198億美元。 萊利銀行( Nedcor Bank Ltd )：總資産175億美元。 以上四大銀行集團總資産占南非銀行業總資産的71％。 對外貿易 對外貿易總額約占國內生産總值5%。出口産品有：黃金，金屬及金屬製品，鑽石，食品、飲料及煙草，機械及交通運輸設備等製成品。主要進口機械設備，交通運輸設備，化工産品，石油等。目前和世界上絶大多數國傢有貿易關係。歐盟與美國等是南非傳統的貿易夥伴。但近年與亞洲、中東等地區的貿易也在不斷增長。2001年九大主要出口目的地排位依次為：美國、英國、德國、日本、意大利、荷蘭、比利時、中國和莫桑比剋。九大主要進口品原産地排位依次為: 德國、 美國、 英國、日本、沙特阿拉伯、法國、中國、意大利和伊朗。 外國資本 自1994年大選後，南非由原先的資本淨流出國變為淨流入國。2001年外國直接投資108億美元，有價證券投資-103億美元，資本帳戶赤字320萬美元。2002年上半年，各類外資流入量有所增加，其中有價證券投資增加幅度較大，第二季度達144億蘭特。外國直接投資主要來自西歐國傢，主要有英國、德國、法國、瑞士等。近年來美國和馬來西亞等亞洲國傢在南非的投資劇增。在南非擁有資産的外國公司投資大多集中於采礦、製造、金融、石油加工和銷售等部門。政府正在實施的國企重組計劃將有助於南非在今後吸引更多外國中長期直接投資資本。 外國援助 1994年以來，各國政府、國際組織承諾嚮南非政府提供超過110億蘭特的援助，用於支持"重建與發展計劃"。主要援助國有美國和歐盟等。2000年南非共接受各類援助4.875億美元，其中無償援助4.434億美元。多邊組織如世界銀行和國際貨幣基金組織也都表示願意嚮南非提供藉貸援助。2000年南非政府表示將嚮世界銀行要求2億美元的藉貸援助，用於改善公共衛生服務。 人民生活 南非屬中等收入國傢，但貧富極為懸殊，種族間收入差距明顯。全國40％的家庭收入衹占國民總收入6％，而占總人口10％的富裕人口收入占國民收入一半以上。貧睏人口（即每人每日收入不足一美元）占總人口11.5％，其中黑人占95％。南非政府1994年推出"重建與發展計劃"，計劃在五年內籌措375億蘭特，用於建造住房、水、電等設施和提供基礎醫療保健服務。1997年，製定"社會保障白皮書"，把扶貧和對老、殘、幼的扶助列為社會福利重點。2001年，人均國內生産總值2549美元；平均壽命52.1歲；嬰兒死亡率5.5％；每10萬人有醫生56人；醫療衛生支出占預算3.3%。艾滋病問題是目前南非面臨的嚴重社會問題之一。據聯合國有關部門估計，2000年南非艾滋病感染率為20%。 四、重要人物 塔博·姆貝基 總統，非國大主席。1942年生於東開普省。1956年加入非國大青年團。非國大活動被禁止後流亡國外。後赴英國學習，獲經濟學碩士學位。1967年起先後在非國大駐英國、博茨瓦納、斯威士蘭、尼日利亞等辦事處和贊比亞總部任職。1975年起歷任非國大全國執委，主席辦公室政治書記、新聞部主任、國際部主任。1989年率非國大代表團同南非政府舉行秘密談判。1993年起先後擔任非國大全國主席、副主席，1997年當選為主席，2002年連任。1994年5月就任新南非第一副總統，1999年6月就任總統。1993年5月作為非國大國際部主任訪華。1998年4月以副總統身份訪華。2001年12月對中國進行國事訪問。 雅各布·祖馬 副總統，非國大副主席。1942年生於南非誇/納省，祖魯族。1959年加入非國大，1963年被當局以陰謀顛覆政府罪判刑十年。出獄後於1975年流亡國外，進入非國大領導層，先後在斯威士蘭、莫桑比剋、贊比亞等國工作，負責非國大情報事務。90年代初參與南非多黨談判。1991年當選為非國大副總書記。1994年全國大選後任誇/納省政府經濟及旅遊事務廳長。同年底當選為非國大全國主席兼誇/納省主席。1997年當選非國大副主席。2002年連任。1999年6月出任副總統。1996年11月和1998年3月兩次隨經貿代表團訪華。 納爾遜·曼德拉 南非前任總統，非國大前任主席，著名黑人領袖。1918年7月18日生於特蘭斯凱烏姆塔塔地區坦姆布族酋長家庭。從青年時代就投身於黑人解放事業，並為此放棄繼承酋長地位。1944年參加非國大，先後擔任非國大青年聯盟全國書記、全國主席、非國大副主席。1961年參與創建非國大軍事組織"民族之矛"並任總司令，領導開展反對南非種族主義政權的武裝鬥爭。1962年6月被捕。1963年6月以"陰謀顛覆罪"被判處終身監禁。1990年2月11日獲釋，3月2日重新當選非國大副主席。1991年7月當選主席。積極推動南非問題的政治解决。1994年5月就任總統。1997年12月，辭去非國大主席職務。1999年大選後退休。主要著作有《走嚮自由之路不會平坦》、《鬥爭是我的生命》等。1993年與當時的南非總統德剋勒剋分享諾貝爾和平奬。1992年10月和1999年5月兩次訪華。1998年7月與前莫桑比剋總統遺孀馬歇爾結婚。 五、軍事 總統為武裝力量最高統帥。最高國防决策機構是國傢安全委員會，下轄國防咨詢委員會和國防部。國防部長代表總統處理軍隊日常事務。國防軍司令主持全軍的作戰、指揮和軍事訓練等事務，由總統任命，平時對國防部長負責，戰時由總統直接領導。國防軍總司令西弗維·尼揚達（Siphiwe Nyanda）於1998年6月上任。南非國傢安全部隊包括國防軍和警察部隊。國防軍的陸、海、空軍分別建於1912、1922和1920年。新南非將原種族隔離時期的國防軍同非國大、泛非大武裝力量及前黑人傢園國防軍進行合併整編，並確定其任務是維護國傢主權和領土完整，履行國際義務，協助維護國內治安等。1997年，義務兵役製改為志願兵役製。近年不斷精兵減員，國防預算持續壓縮。現南非國防軍總兵力5.4萬人，其中陸軍約4萬人，海軍約5000人，空軍約9000人。國防軍總司令為西弗維·尼揚達(SIPHIWE NYANDA)。警察部隊12.9萬人。警察總監：傑基·塞萊比（JACKIE SELEBI）。2002年國防預算為18億美元,占國內生産總值1.7%。 六、文化教育 因長期實行種族隔離的教育制度，黑人受教育機會遠遠低於白人。1991年全國文盲率50％，其中黑人文盲率68％，白人7％。1995年1月，南非正式實施７至１６歲兒童免費義務教育，並廢除了種族隔離時代的教科書。政府不斷加大對教育的投入，着力對教學課程設置、教育資金籌措體係和高等教育體製進行改革。1998年南非成人識字率達84.6％，6％的人口接受了高等教育。2002年教育預算經費598億蘭特，占預算總支出的24％。南非有２１所大學和１５所技術學校。著名的大學有：金山大學、南非大學、開普敦大學、祖魯蘭大學、比勒陀利亞大學等。 七、對外關係 新南非奉行獨立自主的全方位外交政策，主張在尊重主權、平等互利和互不干涉內政的基礎上同一切國傢保持和發展雙邊友好關係。其外交政策六大支柱是：保證人權；在全世界促進自由、民主；尊重公正原則及國際法；維護世界和平，參加解决衝突的國際機製；在國際舞臺上維護非洲利益，促進相互依賴的世界。新南非迅速重返國際社會，對外交往日益活躍，國際地位不斷提高。已同180餘個國傢建立外交關係。南非是聯合國、非洲統一組織、英聯邦等70多個國際組織成員國。1998年，南非舉辦不結盟運動國傢第12屆首腦會議並擔任該屆運動主席國，任期3年。1999年，南非舉辦英聯邦首腦會議（11月），姆貝基總統出任新設的由11國首腦組成的英聯邦高級委員會主席。南非還積極參加聯合國人權、裁軍等領域的活動。2000年南非主辦了第13屆世界艾滋病大會，但姆貝基總統對艾滋病成因主流觀點的置疑引發國際爭議。2001年10月，在非洲國傢阿布賈首腦會議上，與尼日利亞等非洲國傢共同製定並通過"非洲發展新夥伴計劃"（NEPAD）。2002年7月，主辦非洲聯盟首腦會議並當選為主席國。9月，在約翰內斯堡舉辦世界可持續發展首腦會議。 對當前重大國際問題的態度 對全球化趨勢的看法：認為21世紀最主要的發展趨勢是全球化；全球化包括兩個方面，經濟全球化和政治全球化。認為全球化進程已將國傢主權的概念和實踐重新界定，主權的邊界已被後推。全球化進程基本由發達國傢操縱，對發展中國傢主權和社會經濟産生負面影響。貧富差距日益擴大，窮國更難趕上世界發展步伐，從而面臨嚴峻的挑戰和現實危險。認為一國或某個國傢集團主宰世界事務不符合國際潮流發展趨勢；廣大發展中國傢應加強磋商與合作，采取共同行動，影響輿論和世界事務的决策，使世界的發展符合多數國傢的利益。 關於南北關係及債務問題:主張南北對話和建立夥伴關係。南方國傢首先應加強團结，從政治、經濟等各方面建立強有力、全方位的合作關係。認為發達國傢是發展中國傢解决當前重要國際問題離不開的支持力量，加強與發達國傢關係在發展中國傢對外關係中具有特殊重要性。支持發達國傢減免最窮國債務的倡議，並要求其繼續嚮發展中國傢提供發展援助和資本投入，擴大發展中國傢産品的市場準入。 關於民主、人權問題:內外施政中註重抓民主、人權旗幟，積極參與國際人權外交。1994年以來共簽署了15個國際人權條約，推動建立非洲人權法院。認為任何國傢的人權問題都可以討論，但反對將人權問題政治化和搞雙重標準，反對利用人權問題搞對抗。呼籲聯合國在履行其促進和平職能時，更多關註人權問題。尤其當衝突在一國領土內發生時，該國主權應讓位於最基本的人權。強調各國間應以人權為標準，相互製約，以防止類似巴爾幹、東帝汶及非洲地區內亂的蔓延。同時強調一切防止衝突的手段都需經聯合國授權，並符合《世界人權宣言》的精神。 關於聯合國改革:重視聯合國作用，認為聯合國仍然是國際社會防止和解决衝突、維護世界持久和平最權威的機構。主張安理會的改革與擴大應體現地域平等和透明原則，使安理會更具代表性和更民主。認為現五常否决權制度有悖主權平等原則，應逐步取消。支持非統關於非洲在安理會中至少應擁有兩個常任理事國席位、新常任理事國應同樣享有否决權的立場，同時認為新常任理事國同非洲各次區域輪任衹會"造成混亂"；反對通過"快速解决"方案先行解决個別國傢常任理事國席位而擱置他國的作法。 關於軍控問題:以"掌握核能力而自願放棄發展核武器"為資本，在核裁軍領域十分活躍。主張所有國傢裁軍，徹底銷毀核武器和大規模殺傷性武器，譴責任何核擴散行動，敦促五核國履行核裁軍承諾等。主張徹底銷毀殺傷性地雷，稱已全部銷毀並不再生産地雷。 與中國的關係 中國與南非於１９９８年１月１日建立外交關係。建交以來，兩國關係全面、快速發展。２０００年４月，中國國傢主席江澤民應邀對南非進行國事訪問，兩國簽署《中南關於夥伴關係的比勒陀利亞宣言》。２００１年１２月，南非總統姆貝基對中國進行國事訪問。２００４年，兩國確立了平等互利、共同發展的戰略夥伴關係，使兩國在政治、經濟、文化等領域內的友好合作不斷深化。２００６年６月，溫傢寶總理對南非進行正式訪問，兩國簽署了《中國和南非關於深化戰略夥伴關係的合作綱要》。２００６年１１月姆貝基總統對中國進行國事訪問。２００７年２月，鬍錦濤主席對南非進行國事訪問，兩國發表聯合公報。２００７年９月，南非副總統姆蘭博－努卡來華訪問。 中國南非關係快速全面發展 南非是中國在非洲的第一大貿易夥伴，中國是南非十大貿易夥伴之一，兩國經濟互補性很強。據中國海關統計，２００６年兩國貿易額達到９８．５６億美元，比上年增長３６％。 中國成為南非第五大出口目的地國 中國與南非貿易額2007年將大幅增至140億美元 八、南非首都 南非行政首都比勒陀利亞 比勒陀利亞（PROTERIA）是南非行政首都，位於東北部高原的馬加萊斯堡山𠔌地，跨林波波河支流阿皮斯河兩岸。海拔1300米以上。年平均氣溫為17℃。建於1855年，以布爾人領袖比勒陀利烏斯名字命名，其子馬爾錫勞斯是比勒陀利亞城的創建者，市內立有他們父子的塑像。1860年，它是布爾人建立的德蘭士瓦共和國的首都。1900年，被英國占領。1910年起，成為白人種族主義者統治的南非聯邦（1961年改為南非共和國）的行政首府。風光秀美，有”花園城”之稱，街道兩旁種植紫葳，又稱”紫葳城”。 市中心的教堂廣場上聳立着保羅•剋魯格的雕像，他是德蘭士瓦（南非）共和國的首任總統，其舊居已改為國傢紀念館。廣場一側的議會大廈，原為德蘭士瓦州議會，現為省政府所在地。著名的教堂大街全長18．64公裏，為世界最長的街道之一，兩側摩天高樓林立。聯邦大廈為中央政府所在地，位於俯瞰全城的小山上。坐落在保羅•剋魯格大街上的德蘭士瓦博物館內收藏着自石器時代以來的各種地質、考古文物和標本，此外還有國立歷史文化博物館、露天博物館等。 市內公園衆多，面積共達1700公頃以上，其中以國傢動物園和文寧公園最為有名。建於1949年，造價34萬英鎊的先驅者紀念碑聳立在南郊的小山上，這是為紀念南非歷史上著名的“牛車大行進”的民族大遷徙而建。十九世紀三十年代，布爾人在英國殖民者排擠下，成群結隊，從南非南部的開普省一帶，嚮北轉移，來到這裏，遷徒歷時3年之久。市郊的噴泉山𠔌、旺德布姆自然保護區和野生動物保護區也都是旅遊勝地。 比勒陀利亞為礦業城市，近郊為金剛石、白金、黃金、錫、鐵、鉻、煤等礦的開採中心。 南非立法首都開普敦 開普敦（Cape Town）是南非 立法首都，重要港口，好望角省首府。位於好望角北端的狹長地帶，瀕大西洋特布爾灣。始建於1652年，原為東印度公司供應站駐地，是西歐殖民者最早在南部非洲建立的據點，故有“南非諸城之母”之稱，長期是荷蘭、英國殖民者嚮非洲內陸擴張的基地。現為立法機關所在地。 城市背山面海迤邐展開，西郊瀕大西洋，南郊插入印度洋，居兩洋之會。市內多殖民時代的古老建築，位於大廣場附近，建於1666年的開普敦城堡是市內最古老的建築。當年其建築材料多來自荷蘭，後用作總督官邸和政府辦公處。 南非司法首都布隆方丹 南非的司法首都布隆方丹（Bloemfontein）是南非的司法首都，位於中部高原，為全國的地理中心，四周有小丘環繞，夏熱，鼕寒有霜。它最初為一堡壘，1846年正式建城。現為重要交通樞紐。布隆方丹一詞，原意為“花之根源”。市內丘陵起伏，風景秀麗。 它是南非最高司法機關所在地，主要建築物有：市政廳、上訴法院、國傢紀念館、體育場和大教堂等。國傢博物館內有著名的恐竜化石。建於1848年的古堡是市內最古建築。1849年所建的舊省議會，衹有一個房間，現在是全國性的紀念建築物。國傢紀念碑是為紀念在第二次南非戰爭中死去的婦女和兒童而建，碑下為南非歷史著名人物埋葬地。市內有奧蘭治自由邦大學，建於1855年。 九、其它 第十九屆世界杯足球賽將於2010年在南非舉辦。 Modern human beings have inhabited South Africa for more than 100,000 years. However, with the discovery of the Cape Sea Route, the Dutch East India Company founded a refreshment station at what would become Cape Town in 1652. Cape Town became a British colony in 1806. European settlement expanded during the 1820s as the Boers (original Dutch settlers) and the British 1820 Settlers claimed land in the north and east of the country. Conflicts arose between the original inhabitants of the land, the Xhosa and Zulu, and the new European settlers. However, the discovery of diamonds and later gold triggered the conflict known as the Anglo-Boer War as the Boers and the British fought for the control of South Africa's mineral wealth. Although the Boers were defeated, limited independence was given to South Africa in 1910 as a British dominion. Anti-British policies focused on ultimate independence which was achieved in 1961 when South Africa was declared a republic. The leading National Party legislated segregation known as apartheid despite opposition both in and outside of the country. In 1990 the then president F.W. de Klerk began to dismantle this legislation, and in 1994 the first democratic election was held in South Africa. This election brought Nelson Mandela and the current ruling party, the African National Congress to power. South Africa is known for its diversity, and eleven official languages are recognised in its constitution. English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life, however it is only the fifth most spoken home language. South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest Caucasian, Indian, and racially mixed communities in Africa. Although 79.5% of South Africa's population is Black, this category is neither culturally nor linguistically homogenous, as they speak a number of different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status. In 2006, South Africa's population was estimated at 47.4 million people. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological sites in Africa. Extensive fossil remains at the Sterkfontein, Kromdraai and Makapansgat caves suggest that various australopithecines existed in South Africa from about three million years ago . These were succeeded by various species of Homo, including Homo habilis, Homo erectus and modern man, Homo sapiens. Settlements of Bantu-speaking peoples, who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen, were already present south of the Limpopo River by the fourth or fifth century (see Bantu expansion) displacing and absorbing the original KhoiSan speakers. They slowly moved south and the earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal Province are believed to date from around 1050. The southernmost group was the Xhosa people, whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the earlier KhoiSan people, reaching the Fish River, in today's Eastern Cape Province. These Iron Age populations displaced earlier people, who often had hunter-gatherer societies, as they migrated European colonisation Painting of an account of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck, the first European to settle in South Africa, with Devil's Peak in the backgroundIn 1487, the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to reach the southernmost tip of Africa. The King of Portugal, John II, named it the Cabo da Boa Esperança or Cape of Good Hope as it led to the riches of India. In 1652 a refreshment station was established at the Cape of Good Hope by Jan van Riebeeck on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. Slaves were brought from Indonesia, Madagascar, and India as a labour source for the Dutch immigrants in Cape Town. As they expanded east, the Dutch settlers eventually met the south-westerly expanding Xhosa people in the region of the Fish River. A series of wars, called the Cape Frontier Wars, ensued, mainly caused by conflicting land and livestock interests. Flag of the Dutch East Indies Company (Amsterdam Logo)Great Britain took over the Cape of Good Hope area in 1795 ostensibly to stop it falling into the hands of the Revolutionary French, but also seeking to use Cape Town in particular as a stop on the route to Australia and India. It was later returned to the Dutch in 1803, but soon afterwards the Dutch East India Company declared bankruptcy, and the British annexed the Cape Colony in 1806. The British continued the frontier wars against the Xhosa, pushing the eastern frontier eastward through a line of forts established along the Fish River and consolidating it by encouraging British settlement. Due to pressure of abolitionist societies in Britain, the British parliament first stopped its global slave trade in 1807, then abolished slavery in all its colonies in 1833. During the 1830s, approximately 12 000 Boers (later known as Voortrekkers), departed from the Cape Colony, where they were subjected to British control, to the future Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal regions. The Boers founded the Boer Republics - the South African Republic (Gauteng) and the Orange Free State (Free State). The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1884 in the interior encouraged economic growth and immigration, intensifying the subjugation of the indigenous peoples. The Boer Republics successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, much better suited to local conditions. However, the British returned in greater numbers without their red jackets in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The Boers' attempt to ally themselves with German South-West Africa provided the British with yet another excuse to take control of the Boer Republics. Boers in combat (1881). Independence After four years of negotiating, the Union of South Africa was created from the Cape and Natal colonies, as well as the republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal, on May 31, 1910, exactly eight years after the end of the Second Boer War. The newly-created Union of South Africa was a dominion. The Natives' Land Act of 1913 severely restricted the ownership of land by 'blacks', at that stage to a mere 7% of the country, although this amount was eventually increased marginally. The union was effectively granted independence from the United Kingdom with the passage of the Statute of Westminster, which morphed the British king's position within South Africa into that of the distinct King of South Africa. In 1934, the South African Party and National Party merged to form the United Party, seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking "Whites", but split in 1939 over the Union's entry into World War II as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which the National Party strongly opposed. In 1948, the National Party was elected to power, and began implementing a series of harsh segregationist laws that would become known collectively as apartheid. Not surprisingly, this segregation also applied to the wealth acquired during rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, often comparable to "First World" western nations, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. However, the average income and life expectancy of a black, Indian or "Coloured" South African compared favourably to many other African states, such as Ghana and Tanzania as education and health were provided, though selectively. On 31 May 1961, following a whites-only referendum, the country became a republic and left the Commonwealth. The office of Governor-General was abolished and replaced with the position of State President. South Africa's national flag, "Prinsevlag", 1928-1994Apartheid became increasingly controversial, leading to widespread sanctions and divestment abroad and growing unrest and oppression within South Africa. (See also the article on the History of South Africa in the apartheid era.) A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage by bombing and other means, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the African National Congress (ANC), followed. In the late 1970s, South Africa began a program of nuclear weapons, and in the following decade it produced six deliverable nuclear weapons. The rationale for the nuclear arsenal is disputed, but it is believed that Vorster and P.W. Botha wanted to be able to catalyse American intervention in the event of a war between South Africa and the Cuban-supported MPLA government of Angola. Democracy In 1990 the National Party government took the first step towards negotiating itself out of power when it lifted the ban on the African National Congress and other left-wing political organisations, and released Nelson Mandela from prison after twenty-seven years' incarceration on a sabotage sentence. Apartheid legislation was gradually removed from the statute books, and South Africa also destroyed its nuclear arsenal and acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The first multi-racial elections were held in 1994, which the ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since. Despite the end of apartheid, millions of South Africans, mostly black, continued to live in poverty. This is partly attributed to the legacy of the apartheid system and, increasingly, as what many see as the failure of the current government to tackle social issues, coupled with the monetary and fiscal discipline of the current government to ensure both redistribution of wealth and economic growth. Since the ANC government took power, South Africa's United Nations Human Development Index has fallen dramatically, while it was steadily rising until the mid-1990s. Much of this could be attributed to the AIDS pandemic and the government's failure to take steps to address it. However, the ANC's social housing policy has produced some improvement in living conditions in many areas by redirecting fiscal spending and improving the efficiency of the tax collection system. Government and politics The Union Buildings in Pretoria is the home of the South African executive.South Africa is the only country with three capital cities: Cape Town, the largest of the three, is the legislative capital; Pretoria is the administrative capital; and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. South Africa has a bicameral parliament: the National Council of Provinces (the upper house) has 90 members, while the National Assembly (the lower house) has 400 members. Members of the lower house are elected on a population basis by proportional representation: half of the members are elected from national lists and the other half are elected from provincial lists. Ten members are elected to represent each province in the National Council of Provinces, regardless of the population of the province. Elections for both chambers are held every five years. The government is formed in the lower house, and the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly is the President. Current South African politics are dominated by the African National Congress (ANC), which received 69.7% of the vote during the last 2004 general election and 66.3% of the vote in the 2006 municipal election. The current (2004-2009 term) President of South Africa is Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded former President Nelson Mandela. The main challenger to ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance party, which received 12.4% of the vote in the 2004 election and 14.8% in the 2006 election. The party's leader is Helen Zille (elected 6 May 2007), and the previous leader was Tony Leon. The formerly dominant New National Party, which introduced apartheid through its predecessor, the National Party, chose to merge with ANC on 9 April 2005. Other major political parties represented in Parliament are the Inkatha Freedom Party, which mainly represents Zulu voters, and the Independent Democrats, who took 6.97% and 1.7% of the vote respectively, in the 2004 election. Since 2004, the country has had many thousands of popular protests, some violent, making it, according to one academic, the "most protest-rich country in the world". Many of these protests have been organised from the growing shanty towns that surround South African cities. Military South Africa's armed forces, known as the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), was created in 1994 . Previously known as the South African Defence Force (SADF), the new force is an all volunteer army and consists of the forces of the old SADF, as well as the forces of the African nationalist groups, namely Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), and the former Bantustan defence forces. The SANDF is subdivided into four branches, the South African Army, the South African Air Force, the South African Navy, and the South African Military Health Services. In recent years, the SANDF has become a major peacekeeping force in Africa , and has been involved in operations in Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi, amongst others. It has also participated as a part of multi-national UN peacekeeping forces. South Africa undertook a nuclear weapons program in the 1970s and may have conducted a nuclear test over the Atlantic in 1979 . It is the only African country to have successfully developed nuclear weapons. It has become the first country (followed by the Ukraine) with nuclear capability to voluntarily renounce and dismantle its program and in the process signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1991 . Law The primary sources of South Africa law were Roman-Dutch mercantile law and personal law with English Common law, as imports of Dutch settlements and British colonialism. The first European based law in South Africa was brought by the Dutch East India Company and is called Roman-Dutch law. It was imported before the codification of European law into the Napoleonic Code and is comparable in many ways to Scots law. This was followed in the 19th century by English law, both common and statutory. Starting in 1910 with unification, South Africa had its own parliament which passed laws specific for South Africa, building on those previously passed for the individual member colonies. Provinces, districts and municipalities Map showing the provinces and districts (numbered) of South Africa. Northern Cape North West Gauteng Limpopo Mpumalanga KwaZulu-Natal Eastern Cape Free State Western Cape When apartheid ended in 1994, the South African government had to integrate the formerly independent and semi-independent Bantustans into the political structure of South Africa. To this end, it abolished the four former provinces of South Africa (Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal) and replaced them with nine fully integrated provinces. The new provinces are usually much smaller than the former provinces, which theoretically gives local governments more resources to distribute over smaller areas. The nine provinces are further subdivided into 52 districts: 6 metropolitan and 46 district municipalities. The 46 district municipalities are further subdivided into 231 local municipalities. The district municipalities also contain 20 district management areas (mostly game parks) that are directly governed by the district municipalities. The six metropolitan municipalities perform the functions of both district and local municipalities. The new provinces are: Province Former homelands and provinces Capital Area (km²) Area (sq mi) Population (2001) Eastern Cape Cape Province, Transkei, Ciskei Bhisho 169,580 65,475 6,436,761 Free State Orange Free State, QwaQwa Bloemfontein 129,480 49,992 2,706,776 Gauteng Transvaal Johannesburg 17,010 6,568 8,837,172 KwaZulu-Natal Natal, KwaZulu Pietermaritzburg 92,100 35,560 9,426,018 Limpopo Transvaal, Venda, Lebowa, Gazankulu Polokwane 123,900 47,838 5,273,637 Mpumalanga Transvaal, KwaNdebele, KaNgwane, Bophuthatswana, Lebowa Nelspruit 79,490 30,691 3,122,994 Northern Cape Cape Province Kimberley 361,830 139,703 822,726 North West Transvaal, Cape Province, Bophuthatswana Mafikeng 116,320 44,911 3,669,349 Western Cape Cape Province Cape Town 129,370 49,950 4,524,335 Total 1,219,080 470,688 44,819,768 Geography Map of South AfricaSouth Africa is located at the southernmost region of Africa, with a long coastline that stretches more than 2,500 kilometres (1,550 mi) and across two oceans (the Atlantic and the Indian). At 470,979 sq mi (1,219,912 km²), South Africa is the world's 25th-largest country (after Mali). It is comparable in size to Colombia. Njesuthi in the Drakensberg at 3,408 m (11,424 ft) is the highest peak in South Africa. South Africa has a generally temperate climate, due in part to it being surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, by its location in the climatically milder southern hemisphere and due to the average elevation rising steadily towards the north (towards the equator) and further inland. Due to this varied topography and oceanic influence, a great variety of climatic zones exist. The climatic zones vary, from the extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east along the Mozambique border and the Indian ocean. From the east, the land quickly rises over a mountainous escarpment towards the interior plateau known as the Highveld. Even though South Africa is classified as semi-arid, there is considerable variation in climate as well as topography. The interior of South Africa is a vast, rather flat, and sparsely populated scrubland, Karoo, which is drier towards the northwest along the Namib desert. In contrast, the eastern coastline is lush and well-watered, which produces a climate similar to the tropics. The extreme southwest has a climate remarkably similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous Fynbos Biome. This area also produces much of South Africa's wine. This region is also particularly known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the country's south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. This area is popularly known as the Garden Route. Satellite picture of South AfricaThe Free State is particularly flat due to the fact that it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River, the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at 1,740 metres (5,709 ft) and receives an annual rainfall of 760 millimetres (30 in). Winters in this region are cold, although snow is rare. To the north of Johannesburg, the altitude drops beyond the Highveld's escarpment, and turns into the lower lying Bushveld, an area of mixed dry forest and an abundance of wildlife. East of the Highveld, beyond the eastern escarpment, the Lowveld stretches towards the Indian ocean. It has particularly high temperatures, and is also the location of extended subtropical agriculture. The mountains of the Barberton Greenstone belt in the lowveld are the oldest mountains on Earth, dating back 3.5 Billion years. The earliest reliable proof of life (dated 3.2–3.5 Billion years old) has been found in these mountains. The high Drakensberg mountains, which form the south-eastern escarpment of the Highveld, offer limited skiing opportunities in winter.The coldest place in South Africa is Sutherland in the western Roggeveld Mountains, where midwinter temperatures can reach as low as −15 degrees Celsius (5 °F). The deep interior has the hottest temperatures: A temperature of 51.7 °C (125 °F) was recorded in 1948 in the Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington. South Africa also has one possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island (290 km²/112 sq mi) and Prince Edward Island (45 km²/17.3 sq mi) (not to be confused with the Canadian province of the same name). Flora and fauna Fynbos, a floral kingdom unique to South Africa, is found near Cape TownSouth Africa is one of only 17 countries worldwide considered Megadiverse. It has more than 20,000 different plants, or about 10% of all the known species of plants on Earth, making it particularly rich in plant biodiversity. South Africa is the third most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Indonesia and has greater biodiversity than any country of equal or smaller size (Brazil being roughly seven times South Africa's size, and Indonesia more than 50% larger). South Africa's most prevalent biome is grassland, particularly on the Highveld, where the plant cover is dominated by different grasses, low shrubs, and acacia trees, mainly camel-thorn and whitethorn. Vegetation becomes even more sparse towards the northwest due to low rainfall. There are several species of water-storing succulents like aloes and euphorbias in the very hot and dry Namaqualand area. The grass and thorn savannah turns slowly into a bush savannah towards the north-east of the country, with more dense growth. There are significant numbers of baobab trees in this area, near the northern end of Kruger National Park. The Fynbos Biome, which makes up the majority of the area and plant life in the Cape floristic region, one of the six floral kingdoms, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and contains more than 9,000 of those species, making it among the richest regions on earth in terms of floral biodiversity. The majority of the plants are evergreen hard-leaf plants with fine, needle-like leaves, such as the sclerophyllous plants. Another uniquely South African plant is the protea genus of flowering plants. There are around 130 different species of protea in South Africa. While South Africa has a great wealth of flowering plants, it has few forests. Only 1% of South Africa is forest, almost exclusively in the humid coastal plain along the Indian Ocean in KwaZulu-Natal (see KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic). There are even smaller reserves of forests that are out of the reach of fire, known as montane forests (see Knysna-Amatole montane forests). Plantations of imported tree species are predominant, particularly the non-native eucalyptus and pine. South Africa has lost a large area of natural habitat in the last four decades, primarily due to overpopulation, sprawling development patterns and deforestation during the nineteenth century. South Africa is one of the worst affected countries in the world when it comes to invasion by alien species with many (e.g. Black Wattle, Port Jackson, Hakea, Lantana and Jacaranda) posing a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the already scarce water resources. The original temperate forest that met the first European settlers to South Africa was exploited ruthlessly until only small patches remained. Currently, South African hardwood trees like Real Yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius), stinkwood (Ocotea bullata), and South African Black Ironwood (Olea laurifolia) are under government protection. Numerous mammals are found in the bushveld habitats including lions, leopards, white rhinos, blue wildebeest, kudus, impalas, hyenas, hippopotamus, and giraffes. A significant extent of the bushveld habitat exists in the north-east including Kruger National Park and the Mala Mala Reserve, as well as in the far north in the Waterberg Biosphere. Climate change is expected to bring considerable warming and drying to much of this already semi-arid region, with greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, flooding and drought. According to computer generated climate modelling produced by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) (along with many of its partner institutions), parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about one degree Celsius along the coast to more than four degrees Celsius in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050. The Cape Floral Kingdom has been identified as one of the global biodiversity hotspots since it will be hit very hard by climate change and has such a great diversity of life. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire and climbing temperatures are expected to push many of these rare species towards extinction. The book Scorched : South Africa's changing climate takes much of the modelling produced by SANBI and presents it in an accessible travelogue-style collection of essays. South Africa houses many endemic species, among them the critically endangered Riverine Rabbit (Bunolagus monticullaris) in the Karoo. Economy The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background. Cape Town has become an important retail and tourism centre for the country, and attracts the largest number of foreign visitors in South AfricaBy UN classification South Africa is a middle-income country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange (the JSE Limited), that ranks among the top twenty in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres throughout the entire region. South Africa is ranked 20th in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) as of 2007. Advanced development is significantly localised around four areas: Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Pretoria/Johannesburg. Beyond these four economic centres, development is marginal and poverty is still prevalent despite government efforts. Consequently the vast majority of South Africans are poor. However, key marginal areas have experienced rapid growth recently. Such areas include: Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay; Rustenburg area; Nelspruit area; Bloemfontein; Cape West Coast; and KwaZulu-Natal's North Coast amongst others. Even though South Africa has the fourth highest per capita income in Africa, only behind Seychelles, Botswana and the European possessions located in Africa, it suffers from large income gaps and a dual economy marking it as a developing country. South Africa has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world. A decade of continual economic growth has helped to lower unemployment, but daunting economic and social problems remain. The average South African household income decreased considerably between 1995 and 2000. As for racial inequality, Statistics South Africa reported that in 1995 the average white household earned four times as much as the average black household. In 2000 the average white household was earning 6 times the average black household. The implementation of affirmative action policies have seen a rise in black economic wealth and an emerging black middle class. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. At the start of 2000, President Thabo Mbeki vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment by relaxing restrictive labour laws, stepping up the pace of privatisation, and cutting unneeded governmental spending. His policies face strong opposition from organised labour. South Africa is also the continent's largest energy producer and consumer. The South African rand (ZAR), the world's most actively-traded emerging market currency, has joined an elite club of fifteen currencies, the Continuous linked settlement (CLS), where forex transactions are settled immediately, lowering the risks of transacting across time zones. The rand was the best-performing currency against the United States dollar (USD) between 2002 and 2005, according to the Bloomberg Currency Scorecard. The volatility of the rand has affected economic activity, falling sharply during 2001 and hitting a historic low of 13.85 ZAR to the USD, raising fears of inflation, and causing the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates. The rand has since recovered, trading at 7.13 ZAR to the dollar as of January 2008. However, as exporters are put under considerable pressure from a stronger domestic currency, many call for government intervention to help soften the rand. Refugees from poorer neighbouring countries include many immigrants from the DRC, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi and others, representing a large portion of the informal sector. With high unemployment levels amongst poorer South Africans, xenophobia is prevalent and many people born in South Africa feel resentful of immigrants who are seen to be depriving the native population of jobs, a feeling which has been given credibility by the fact that many South African employers have employed migrants from other countries for lower pay than South African citizens, especially in the construction, tourism, agriculture and domestic service industries. Illegal immigrants are also heavily involved in informal trading. However, many immigrants to South Africa continue to live in poor conditions, and the South African immigration policy has become increasingly restrictive since 1994. South Africa's principal international trading partners—besides other African countries—include Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Chief exports include corn, diamonds, fruits, gold, metals and minerals, sugar, and wool. Machinery and transportation equipment make up more than one-third of the value of the country’s imports. Other imports include chemicals, manufactured goods, and petroleum. Electricity crisis After unsuccessful attempts by the government to encourage private construction of electricity generation capacity, in 2007 the state-owned electricity supplier (Eskom) started experiencing a lack of capacity in the electrical generating and reticulation infrastructure. This led to an inability to meet the routine demands of industry and consumers, resulting in countrywide rolling blackouts. Initially the lack of capacity was triggered by a failure at Koeberg nuclear power station, but since then a general lack of capacity became evident. The supplier has been widely criticised for failing to adequately plan for and construct sufficient electrical generating capacity, although ultimately the government has admitted that it's at fault for refusing to approve funding for investment in infrastructure. Agriculture Workers planting on a farm in the central area of Mpumalanga. Farm workers.South Africa has a large agricultural sector and is a net exporter of farming products. There are almost a thousand agricultural cooperatives and agribusinesses throughout the country, and agricultural exports have constituted 8% of South Africa's total exports for the past five years. The agricultural industry contributes around 10% of formal employment, relatively low compared to other parts of Africa, as well as providing work for casual labourers and contributing around 2.6% of GDP for the nation. However, due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% can be used for crop production, and only 3% is considered high potential land. Although the commercial farming sector is relatively well developed, people in some rural areas still survive on subsistence agriculture. It is the eighth largest wine producer in the world, and the eleventh largest producer of sunflower seed. South Africa is a net exporter of agricultural products and foodstuffs, the largest number of exported items being sugar, grapes, citrus, nectarines, wine and deciduous fruit. The largest locally produced crop is maize (corn), and it has been estimated that 9 million tons are produced every year, with 7.4 million tons being consumed. Livestock are also popular on South African farms, with the country producing 85% of all meat consumed. The dairy industry consists of around 4,300 milk producers providing employment for 60,000 farm workers and contributing to the livelihoods of around 40,000 others. In recent years, the agricultural sector has introduced several reforms, some of which are controversial, such as land reform and the deregulation of the market for agricultural products. Land reform has been criticised both by farmers' groups and by landless workers, the latter alleging that the pace of change has not been fast enough, and the former alleging racist treatment and expressing concerns that a similar situation to Zimbabwe's land reform policy may develop, a fear exacerbated by comments made by the country's deputy president. The sector continues to face problems, with increased foreign competition and crime being two of the major challenges for the industry. The government has been accused of not devoting enough time and money to tackle the problem of farm attacks as opposed to other forms of violent crime. Another issue which affects South African agriculture is environmental damage caused by misuse of the land and global climate change. South Africa is unusually vulnerable to climate change and resultant diminution of surface waters. Some predictions show surface water supply could decrease by 60% by the year 2070 in parts of the Western Cape. To reverse the damage caused by land mismanagement, the government has supported a scheme which promotes sustainable development and the use of natural resources. Tourism South Africa is a popular tourist destination, and a substantial amount of revenue comes from tourism. Among the main attractions are the diverse and picturesque culture, the game reserves and the highly regarded local wines. Demographics Historical populations Census Pop. %± 1900 5014000 — 1910 5842000 16.5% 1920 6953000 19.0% 1930 8580000 23.4% 1940 10341000 20.5% 1950 13310000 28.7% 1960 16385000 23.1% 1970 21794000 33.0% 1980 24261000 11.3% 1990 37944000 56.4% 2000 43686000 15.1% 2008 (est.) 43786115 0.2% * Source: "South Africa", Population Statistics Population density by municipality. Large areas of South Africa are sparsely populated.South Africa is a nation of more than 43 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The last census was held in 2001 and the next will be in 2011. Statistics South Africa provided five racial categories by which people could classify themselves, the last of which, "unspecified/other" drew negligible responses, and these results were omitted. The 2006 midyear estimated figures for the other categories were Black African at 79.5%, White at 9.2%, Coloured at 8.9%, and Indian or Asian at 2.5%. Even though South Africa's population has increased in the past decade (primarily due to immigration), the country had an annual population growth rate of −0.501% in 2008(CIA est.). South Africa is home to an estimated 5 million illegal immigrants, including some 3 million Zimbabweans. A series of anti-immigrant riots occurred in South Africa beginning on May 11, 2008. By far the major part of the population classified itself as African or black, but it is not culturally or linguistically homogeneous. Major ethnic groups include the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho (South Sotho), Bapedi (North Sotho), Venda, Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi and Ndebele, all of which speak Bantu languages (see Bantu peoples of South Africa). Some, such as the Zulu, Xhosa, Bapedi and Venda groups, are unique to South Africa. Other groups are distributed across the borders with South Africa's neighbours: The Basotho group is also the major ethnic group in Lesotho. The Tswana ethnic group constitute the majority of the population of Botswana. The Swazi ethnic group is the major ethnic group in Swaziland. The Ndebele ethnic group is also found in Matabeleland in Zimbabwe, where they are known as the Matabele. These Ndebele people are the descendants of a Zulu faction under the warrior Mzilikazi that escaped persecution from Shaka by migrating to their current territory. The Tsonga ethnic group is also found in southern Mozambique, where they are known as the Shangaan. The white population is not ethnically homogenous and descend from many ethnic groups: Dutch, Portuguese, German, French Huguenot, English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. Culturally and linguistically, they are divided into the Afrikaners, who speak Afrikaans, and English-speaking groups, many of whom are descended from British and Irish immigrants (see Anglo-African). Many small communities that have immigrated over the last century retain the use of other languages. The white population is on the decrease due to a low birth rate and emigration; as a factor in their decision to emigrate, many cite the high crime rate and the government's affirmative action policies. Since 1994, over 1 000 000 white South Africans have permanently emigrated. Despite high emigration levels, a high level of non-South African white immigrants have settled in the country, in particular from countries such as Britain and Zimbabwe. For example, by 2005, an estimated 212 000 British citizens were residing in South Africa. Since 2003, the numbers of British expats coming to South Africa has rose by 50%. An estimated 20 000 British expats moved to South Africa in 2007. The reasons cited by many expats are South Africa's family values, the weather and a better quality of life. South Africa recently overtook New Zealand as the 6th most popular destination amongst the British expat community. There have also been a significant number of white Zimbabwean arrivals, fleeing their home country in light of the economic and political problems currently facing the country. As well as recent arrivals, a significant number of white Zimbabweans emigrated to South Africa in the wake of independence in Zimbabwe in 1980. Some of the more nostalgic members of the community are known in popular culture as "Whenwes", because of their nostalgia for their lives in Rhodesia "when we were in Rhodesia" The term "Coloured" is still largely used for the people of mixed race descended from slaves brought in from East and Central Africa, the indigenous Khoisan who lived in the Cape at the time, indigenous African Blacks, Whites (mostly the Dutch/Afrikaner and British settlers) as well as an admixture of Javanese, Malay, Indian, Malagasy and other European (such as Portuguese) and Asian blood (such as Burmese). The majority speak Afrikaans. Khoisan is a term used to describe two separate groups, physically similar in that they were light-skinned and small in stature. The Khoikhoi, who were called Hottentots by the Europeans, were pastoralists and were effectively annihilated; the San, called Bushmen by the Europeans, were hunter-gatherers. Within what is known as the Coloured community, more recent immigrants will also be found: Coloureds from the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Namibia and immigrants of mixed descent from India and Burma (Anglo-Indians/Anglo-Burmese) who were welcomed to the Cape when India and Burma received their Independence. The major part of the Asian population of the country is Indian in origin (see Indian South Africans), many of them descended from indentured workers brought in the nineteenth century to work on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area then known as Natal. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans (approximately 100,000 individuals) and Vietnamese South Africans (approximately 50,000 individuals). In 2008, the Pretoria High Court has ruled that Chinese South Africans are to be reclassified as black people. As a result of this ruling, ethnically Chinese citizens will be able to benefit from government BEE policies. South Africa hosts a sizeable refugee and asylum seeker population. According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, this population numbered approximately 144,700 in 2007. Groups of refugees and asylum seekers numbering over 10,000 included persons from Zimbabwe (48,400), The Democratic Republic of the Congo (24,800), and Somalia (12,900). These populations mainly lived in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town, and Port Elizabeth. Society and culture Prison Buildings on Robben Island, the holding place of several anti-apartheid fighters including Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned there for eighteen years. Robben Island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site Decorated houses, Drakensberg MountainsIt may be argued that there is no "single" culture in South Africa because of its ethnic diversity. Today, the diversity in foods from many cultures is enjoyed by all and especially marketed to tourists who wish to sample the large variety of South African cuisine. In addition to food, music and dance feature prominently. South African cuisine is heavily meat-based and has spawned the distinctively South African social gathering known as a braai, or barbecue. South Africa has also developed into a major wine producer, with some of the best vineyards lying in valleys around Stellenbosch, Franschoek, Paarl and Barrydale. There is great diversity in music from South Africa. Many black musicians who sang in Afrikaans or English during apartheid have since begun to sing in traditional African languages, and have developed a unique style called Kwaito. Of note is Brenda Fassie, who launched to fame with her song "Weekend Special", which was sung in English. More famous traditional musicians include Ladysmith Black Mambazo, while the Soweto String Quartet performs classic music with an African flavour. White and Coloured South African singers are historically influenced by European musical styles including such western metal bands such as Seether (formerly Saron Gas). South Africa has produced world-famous jazz musicians, notably Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, Jonathan Butler, Chris McGregor, and Sathima Bea Benjamin. Afrikaans music covers multiple genres, such as the contemporary Steve Hofmeyr and the punk rock band Fokofpolisiekar. Crossover artists such as Johnny Clegg and his bands Juluka and Savuka have enjoyed various success underground, publicly, and abroad. The country's black majority still has a substantial number of rural inhabitants who lead largely impoverished lives. It is among these people, however, that cultural traditions survive most strongly; as blacks have become increasingly urbanised and westernised, aspects of traditional culture have declined. Urban blacks usually speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their native tongue. There are smaller but still significant groups of speakers of Khoisan languages which are not included in the eleven official languages, but are one of the eight other officially recognised languages. There are small groups of speakers of endangered languages, most of which are from the Khoi-San family, that receive no official status; however, some groups within South Africa are attempting to promote their use and revival. The middle class lifestyle, predominantly of the white minority but with growing numbers of Black, Coloured and Indian people, is similar in many respects to that of people found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia. Members of the middle class often study and work abroad for greater exposure to the world's markets. Asians, predominantly of Indian origin, preserve their own cultural heritage, languages and religious beliefs, being either Christian, Hindu or Sunni Muslim and speaking English, with Indian languages like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil or Gujarati being spoken less frequently, but the majority of Indians being able to understand their mother tongue. The first Indians arrived on the famous Truro ship as indentured labourers in Natal to work the Sugar Cane Fields. There is a much smaller Chinese community in South Africa, although its numbers have increased due to immigration from Republic of China (Taiwan). South Africa has also had a large influence in the Scouting movement, with many Scouting traditions and ceremonies coming from the experiences of Robert Baden-Powell (the founder of Scouting) during his time in South Africa as a military officer in the 1890s. The South African Scout Association was one of the first youth organisations to open its doors to youth and adults of all races in South Africa. This happened on 2 July 1977 at a conference known as Quo Vadis. The South African music scene consists of Kwaito, a new music genre that had developed in the mid 80's and has since developed to become the most popular social economical form of representation among the populous. Though some may argue that the political aspects of Kwaito has since diminished after Apartheid, and the relative interest in politics has become a minor aspect of daily life. Some argue that in a sense, Kwaito is in fact a political force that shows activism in its apolitical actions. Today, major corporations like Sony, BMG, and EMI have appeared on the South African scene to produce and distribute Kwaito music. Due to its overwhelming popularity, as well as the general influence of DJs, who are among the top 5 most influential types of people within the country, Kwaito has taken over radio, television, and magazines. Kwaito, much like most hip-hop has its own local flavor and originality. However, unlike when hip-hop first burst on the scene as a politically-driven and rebellious underground movement, South Africans wanted to create a happier vibe. As the post-apartheid fog cleared, South African youth found their "own voice in a style of music known as kwaito, spawning a new (and profitable) industry". According to TIMEeurope magazine, "The kwaito sound now regularly incorporates traditional African music, jazz, gospel, and even rock guitar, most notably on Mandoza's 2000 hit Nkalakatha, one of the few kwaito records to cross over onto traditionally white radio" . In the kwaito, the samples from old school Jamaican dancehall, European house, etc., tempos are changed, beats are added, and urban street slang is also incorporated. This local flavor of music more recently has been attacked for its lack of ingenuity and its betrayal of its roots. The melodies and the incorporation of sex and dance have since become very similar to the American standard. In addition Kwaito has been criticised for its absence of influential lyrical content. As Kwaito is still a developing genre, and since the South African population is only around 40 million, sales of only 25,000 CDs are required for "gold" certification in South Africa. Religion According to the latest 2001 national census, Christians accounted for 79.7% of the population. This includes Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal (Charismatic) 8.2%, Roman Catholic 7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%, and other Christian 36%. Islam accounted for 1.5% of the population, Hinduism about 1.3%. 15.1% had no religious affiliation, 2.3% were other and 1.4% were unspecified. African Indigenous Churches were the largest of the Christian groups. It was believed that many of these persons who claimed no affiliation with any organised religion adhered to traditional indigenous religions. Many peoples have syncretic religious practices combining Christian and indigenous influences. Islam in South Africa itself is not known to pre-date the colonial period, despite the fact that neighbouring Mozambique had isolated contact with Arab and East African traders. There is no evidence that Islam was known to the Zulu, Swazi, or Xhosa of the east coast prior to the colonial era. Many South African Muslims are described as Coloureds, notably in the Western Cape, especially those whose ancestors came as slaves from the Indonesian archipelago (the Cape Malays). Others are described as Indians, notably in KwaZulu-Natal, including those whose ancestors came as traders from South Asia; they have been joined by others from other parts of Africa as well as white or black South African converts. It is estimated that Islam is the fastest growing religion of conversion in the country, with the number of black Muslims growing sixfold, from 12,000 in 1991 to 74,700 in 2004. Hinduism dates back to British Colonial period primarily but later waves of continuous immigrants from India have contributed to a sizable Hindu population. Most Hindus are ethnically South Asian but there are many who come from mixed racial stock and many are converts with the efforts of Hindu missionaries such as ISKCON. Other religions in smaller numbers are Sikhism, Jainism and Bahá'í Faith. Languages Map showing principal South African languages by municipality. Lighter shades indicate a non-majority plurality. Afrikaans Northern Sotho Southern Sotho Swati Tsonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zulu South Africa has eleven official languages: Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu. In this regard it is second only to India in number. While each language is technically equal to every other, some languages are spoken more than others. According to the 2001 National Census, the three most spoken first home languages are Zulu (23.8%), Xhosa (17.6%) and Afrikaans (13.3%). Despite the fact that English is recognised as the language of commerce and science, it was spoken by only 8.2% of South Africans at home in 2001, an even lower percentage than in 1996 (8.6%). There are eleven official names for South Africa, one in each of the official national languages. The country also recognises eight non-official languages: Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, Phuthi, San and South African Sign Language. These non-official languages may be used in certain official uses in limited areas where it has been determined that these languages are prevalent. Nevertheless, their populations are not such that they require nationwide recognition. Many of the "unofficial languages" of the San and Khoikhoi people contain regional dialects stretching northward into Namibia and Botswana, and elsewhere. These people, who are a physically distinct population from other Africans, have their own cultural identity based on their hunter-gatherer societies. They have been marginalised to a great extent, and many of their languages are in danger of becoming extinct. Many white South Africans also speak other European languages, such as Portuguese (also spoken by Angolan and Mozambican blacks), German, and Greek, while some Asians and Indians in South Africa speak South Asian languages, such as Telugu, Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil. Sports The main sports in South Africa are soccer, rugby, cricket and boxing. Other sports with significant support are swimming, golf and netball. Basketball, surfing and skateboarding are popular among the youth. Famous boxing personalities include Baby Jake Jacob Matlala, Vuyani Bungu, Welcome Ncita, "the rose of Soweto" Dingaan Thobela, Gerrie Coetzee and Brian Mitchell. Football players who have excelled in international clubs include Lucas Radebe of Leeds United and Quinton Fortune, formerly of Manchester United, Benni McCarthy of Blackburn Rovers and Steven Pienaar of Everton. South Africa produced Formula 1 motor racing's 1979 world champion Jody Scheckter. South Africa hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup at their first attempt and again won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, beating reigning champions England in the final. South Africa was only allowed to participate from 1995 since the end of Apartheid. It followed the 1995 Rugby World Cup final by hosting and winning the 1996 African Cup of Nations football tournament. It also hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup and the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in 2007. South Africa will be the host nation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which will be the first time the tournament is held on the African continent. As the 2010 World Cup Host country the South African national soccer team (Bafana Bafana) will automatically qualify to play in the 2010 World Cup finals. The South African National Soccer team will be coached by Brazilian Coach Joel Santana. In 2004, the team of Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, simultaneously breaking the world record in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Schoeman, Ferns, and Neethling trained at the University of Arizona. Previously Penny Heyns won Olympic Gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Several other swimmers have participated and won in international swimming events. In golf, Gary Player is generally regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time, having won the Career Grand Slam, one of five golfers to have done so. Other South African golfers to have successfully won a major tournament include Bobby Locke, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman, who won the Masters in 2008. Current issues HIV/AIDS The spread of AIDS (acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome) is an alarming problem in South Africa with up to 31% of pregnant women found to be HIV infected in 2005 and the infection rate among adults estimated at 20%. The link between HIV, a virus spread primarily by sexual contact, and AIDS has long been denied by the president and the health minister, who have insisted that the many deaths in the country are due to malnutrition, and hence poverty, and not HIV. Recently, in 2007, the government made efforts to fight AIDS. AIDS affects mainly those who are sexually active and is far more prevalent in the black population. Most deaths are people who are also economically active, resulting in many families losing their primary wage earners. This has resulted in many 'AIDS orphans' who in many cases depend on the state for care and financial support. It is estimated that there are 1,200,000 orphans in South Africa. Many elderly people also lose the support from lost younger members of their family. Roughly 5 million people are infected with the disease. Crime According to a survey for the period 1998–2000 compiled by the United Nations, South Africa was ranked second for assault and murder (by all means) per capita, in addition to being ranked first for rapes per capita. Total crime per capita is tenth (10th) out of the sixty (60) countries in the data set. Crime has had a pronounced effect on society: many middle-class South Africans moved into gated communities, abandoning the central business districts of some cities for the relative security of suburbs. This effect is most pronounced in Johannesburg, although the trend is noticeable in other cities as well. Many emigrants from South Africa also state that crime was a big motivator for them to leave. Crime against the farming community has continued to be a major problem. |
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