South Africa - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of South Africa. South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Eswatini. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 127 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Geographical data of South Africa
Location Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Geographic coordinates 29 00 S, 24 00 E
Map references Africa
Tarrain vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Natural Resources gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas
Natural Hazards

prolonged droughts

volcanism: the volcano forming Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands, which last erupted in 2004, is South Africa's only active volcano

Irrigated Land 16,700 sq km (2012)
Major rivers (by length in km) Orange (shared with Lesotho [s], and Namibia [m]) - 2,092 km; Limpoporivier (Limpopo) river source (shared with Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique [m]) - 1,800 km; Vaal [s] - 1,210 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Major aquifers Karoo Basin, Lower Kalahari-Stampriet Basin
Land Boundaries 5,244 km
Border Countries Botswana 1,969 km; Lesotho 1,106 km; Mozambique 496 km; Namibia 1,005 km; Eswatini 438 km; Zimbabwe 230 km
Coastline 2,798 km
Climate mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
Area
Total Area
Land Area 1,214,470 sq km
Water Area 4,620 sq km
comparative Area slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Maritime Claims
Territorial sea 12 nm
Contiguous zone 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone 200 nm
Continental shelf 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin
Elevations
Highest point Ntheledi (Mafadi) 3,450 m
Lowest point Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Mean elevation 1,034 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 79.4% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 9.9% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 69.2% (2018 est.)
Forest 7.6% (2018 est.)
Other 13% (2018 est.)
Population Distribution

The population concentrated along the southern and southeastern coast, and inland around Pretoria; the eastern half of the country is more densely populated than the west as shown in this population distribution map

People and Society

In South Africa, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Black African 80.9%, Colored 8.8%, White 7.8%, Indian/Asian 2.6%  (2021 est.)

Population
Pop growth rate 1.07% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 17.7 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 6.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure 8.6% of GDP (2020)
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density
Total fertility rate 2.27 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 1.12 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate 54.6% (2016)
Est married women (ages 15-49) 36.9% (2023 est.)
Literacy age 15 and over can read and write
Education expenditures 6.6% of GDP (2021 est.)
Net Migration rate -0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality South African | South African(s)
Languages
Religions Christian 86%, ancestral, tribal, animist, or other traditional African religions 5.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other 1.5%, nothing in particular 5.2% (2015 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 27.2% (male 8,227,690/female 8,194,392)
15-64 years 65.3% (male 19,524,873/female 19,947,839)
65 years and over 7.5% (2024 est.) (male 1,911,825/female 2,636,028)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 52.2
Youth dependency ratio 43.9
Elderly dependency ratio 8.4
Potential support ratio 10.9 (2021 est.)
Median Age
Total 30.4 years (2024 est.)
Male 30.1 years
Female 30.6 years
Urbanization
Urban population 68.8% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 1.72% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 10.316 million Johannesburg (includes Ekurhuleni), 4.890 million Cape Town (legislative capital), 3.228 million Durban, 2.818 million PRETORIA (administrative capital), 1.296 million Port Elizabeth, 934,000 West Rand (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.73 male(s)/female
Total population 0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 21.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 23.9 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 20 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 71.9 years (2024 est.)
Male 70.3 years
Female 73.5 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 99.7% of population
Improved: rural rural: 90.3% of population
Improved: total total: 96.7% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0.3% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 9.7% of population
Unimproved: total total: 3.3% of population (2020 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 96.6% of population
Improved: rural rural: 86.4% of population
Improved: total total: 93.2% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 3.4% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 13.6% of population
Unimproved: total total: 6.8% of population (2020 est.)
Major Infectious diseases
Degree of risk intermediate (2023)
Food or waterborne diseases bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases sexually transmitted diseases:  HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B (2024)
Water contact diseases schistosomiasis
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 7.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 3.99 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 1.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 1.31 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 0.7 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 20.3% (2020 est.)
Male 34% (2020 est.)
Female 6.5% (2020 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 15 0.9%
Women married by age 18 3.6%
Men married by age 18 0.6% (2016 est.)
Demographic profile

South Africa’s youthful population is gradually aging, as the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) has declined dramatically from about 6 children per woman in the 1960s to roughly 2.2 in 2014, and has remained at this level as of 2022. This pattern is similar to fertility trends in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, and sets South Africa apart from the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average TFR remains higher than other regions of the world. Today, South Africa’s decreasing number of reproductive age women is having fewer children, as women increase their educational attainment, workforce participation, and use of family planning methods; delay marriage; and opt for smaller families.

As the proportion of working-age South Africans has grown relative to children and the elderly, South Africa has been unable to achieve a demographic dividend because persistent high unemployment and the prevalence of HIV/AIDs have created a larger-than-normal dependent population. HIV/AIDS was also responsible for South Africa’s average life expectancy plunging to less than 43 years in 2008; it has rebounded to 65 years as of 2022. HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious public health threat, although awareness-raising campaigns and the wider availability of anti-retroviral drugs is stabilizing the number of new cases, enabling infected individuals to live longer, healthier lives, and reducing mother-child transmissions.

Migration to South Africa began in the second half of the 17th century when traders from the Dutch East India Company settled in the Cape and started using slaves from South and southeast Asia (mainly from India but also from present-day Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia) and southeast Africa (Madagascar and Mozambique) as farm laborers and, to a lesser extent, as domestic servants. The Indian subcontinent remained the Cape Colony’s main source of slaves in the early 18th century, while slaves were increasingly obtained from southeast Africa in the latter part of the 18th century and into the 19th century under British rule.

After slavery was completely abolished in the British Empire in 1838, South Africa’s colonists turned to temporary African migrants and indentured labor through agreements with India and later China, countries that were anxious to export workers to alleviate domestic poverty and overpopulation. Of the more than 150,000 indentured Indian laborers hired to work in Natal’s sugar plantations between 1860 and 1911, most exercised the right as British subjects to remain permanently (a small number of Indian immigrants came freely as merchants). Because of growing resentment toward Indian workers, the 63,000 indentured Chinese workers who mined gold in Transvaal between 1904 and 1911 were under more restrictive contracts and generally were forced to return to their homeland.

In the late 19th century and nearly the entire 20th century, South Africa’s then British colonies’ and Dutch states’ enforced selective immigration policies that welcomed "assimilable" white Europeans as permanent residents but excluded or restricted other immigrants. Following the Union of South Africa’s passage of a law in 1913 prohibiting Asian and other non-white immigrants and its elimination of the indenture system in 1917, temporary African contract laborers from neighboring countries became the dominant source of labor in the burgeoning mining industries. Others worked in agriculture and smaller numbers in manufacturing, domestic service, transportation, and construction. Throughout the 20th century, at least 40% of South Africa’s miners were foreigners; the numbers peaked at over 80% in the late 1960s. Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, and Eswatini were the primary sources of miners, and Malawi and Zimbabwe were periodic suppliers.

Under apartheid, a "two gates" migration policy focused on policing and deporting illegal migrants rather than on managing migration to meet South Africa’s development needs. The exclusionary 1991 Aliens Control Act limited labor recruitment to the highly skilled as defined by the ruling white minority, while bilateral labor agreements provided exemptions that enabled the influential mining industry and, to a lesser extent, commercial farms, to hire temporary, low-paid workers from neighboring states. Illegal African migrants were often tacitly allowed to work for low pay in other sectors but were always under threat of deportation.

The abolishment of apartheid in 1994 led to the development of a new inclusive national identity and the strengthening of the country’s restrictive immigration policy. Despite South Africa’s protectionist approach to immigration, the downsizing and closing of mines, and rising unemployment, migrants from across the continent believed that the country held work opportunities. Fewer African labor migrants were issued temporary work permits and, instead, increasingly entered South Africa with visitors’ permits or came illegally, which drove growth in cross-border trade and the informal job market. A new wave of Asian immigrants has also arrived over the last two decades, many operating small retail businesses.

In the post-apartheid period, increasing numbers of highly skilled white workers emigrated, citing dissatisfaction with the political situation, crime, poor services, and a reduced quality of life. The 2002 Immigration Act and later amendments were intended to facilitate the temporary migration of skilled foreign labor to fill labor shortages, but instead the legislation continues to create regulatory obstacles. Although the education system has improved and brain drain has slowed in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, South Africa continues to face skills shortages in several key sectors, such as health care and technology.

South Africa’s stability and economic growth has acted as a magnet for refugees and asylum seekers from nearby countries, despite the prevalence of discrimination and xenophobic violence. Refugees have included an estimated 350,000 Mozambicans during its 1980s civil war and, more recently, several thousand Somalis, Congolese, and Ethiopians. Nearly all of the tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who have applied for asylum in South Africa have been categorized as economic migrants and denied refuge.

All Important Facts about South Africa

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South Africa is found in Southern Africa