Two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes.
Pretoria Cape Town is the legislative center and Bloemfontein the judicial center
Administrative divisions:
9 provinces: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, and Western Cape.
Population:
43,647,658 (July 2002 est.) South Africa took a census October 1996 that showed a population of 40,583,611 (after an official adjustment for a 6.8% underenumeration based on a postenumeration survey), estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS, this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
Languages:
11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu
Geographic coordinates:
29° 00' S, 24° 00' E
Area total:
1,219,912 sq. km includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island)
Land area:
1,219,912 sq. km
Water area:
0 sq. km
Total land boundaries:
4,862 km
Borders with neighbor countries:
Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km
Coastline:
2,798 km
Elevation extremes:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m - Njesuthi 3,408 m
Internet country code:
.za
Currency:
rand (ZAR)
Name - abbreviation:
RSA
Name - conventional long form:
Republic of South Africa
Name - conventional short form:
South Africa
Former name:
Union of South Africa
Independence:
31 May 1910 (from UK)
Constitution:
10 December 1996, this new constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 December 1996, and entered into effect on 3 February 1997, it is being implemented in phases