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South Africa

Republic of South Africa · Southern Africa

Position of South Africa on a world map

At a glance

CapitalPretoria
Most common first languageZulu24.4% speak it as a mother tongue
Official languagesZulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans +9 more
Currencyrand
Drives on theleft
Highest pointMafadi3,450 m
Biggest category of goods exportedmanufactured goods39% of goods exports, 2024
Services share of exports13.4%of everything sold abroad, 2025
Internet domain.za

Facts about South Africa

South Africa has three capital cities — one for government, one for the courts, one for parliament.

Source: Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Cape Town · checked 2026-08-08

South Africa mines the most platinum.

Source: farmonaut.com · checked 2026-08-08

South Africa by the numbers

Rank is out of the countries with data for that measure. Every figure is the latest year the source publishes.

MeasureValueRank
PopulationEveryone living in the country, all ages, counted mid-year.64.7m (2025)24th
of 209
GDPThe total value of everything the country produces in a year, at current prices.$427bn (2025)40th
of 203
Land areaTotal land area, excluding inland water and offshore territory.1.21m km² (2023)24th
of 209
Military spending, totalWhat the government spends on its armed forces in a year — pay, equipment and operations.$2.84bn (2024)55th
of 151
Exports of goods & servicesThe value of everything the country sells abroad in a year, goods and services combined.$134bn (2025)42nd
of 180
Mobile subscriptionsActive mobile phone subscriptions — NOT the same as people. Many people hold two, so a country can have more subscriptions than residents.115m (2024)16th
of 205
Forest areaLand under natural or planted trees, whether or not it is productive.169k km² (2023)39th
of 203
Agricultural landCropland, land under permanent crops, and permanent pasture.963k km² (2023)13th
of 206
COâ‚‚ emissionsCarbon dioxide released in a year, in millions of tonnes.440 Mt (2024)15th
of 198
Urban populationThe number of people living in urban areas, as each country defines them.41.3m (2025)24th
of 209
Life expectancyHow long a baby born today would live if death rates never changed.66.3 years (2024)175th
of 209
GDP per personEverything the country produces in a year, divided by its population.$6,598 (2025)119th
of 205
Internet useThe share of people who have used the internet in the last three months.78.4% (2024)105th
of 191
InflationHow much prices rose over the year, measured on a basket of consumer goods.3.2% (2025)90th
of 182
UnemploymentThe share of people who want a job and are looking for one but do not have one.32.4% (2025)2nd
of 185
Urban shareThe share of the population living in urban areas.63.8% (2025)106th
of 209
Births per womanHow many children a woman would have across her life at current birth rates.2.21 (2024)93rd
of 209
Military spending, share of GDPWhat the country spends on its armed forces, as a share of everything it produces.0.70% of GDP (2024)136th
of 155
Trade opennessImports plus exports as a share of GDP. Above 100% is normal for small trading economies.60.9% of GDP (2025)125th
of 183
COâ‚‚ per personCarbon dioxide from fuel and industry, divided by the population.6.80 t (2024)36th
of 198
Human Development IndexThe UN’s combined measure of health, education and income, on a scale from 0 to 1.0.741 (2023)106th
of 193

Land borders

🇧🇼 Botswana🇸🇿 Eswatini🇱🇸 Lesotho🇲🇿 Mozambique🇳🇦 Namibia🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

South Africa shares these with other countries

Drives on the left 60Has a coast and land neighbours 115Has english as an official language 63Has xhosa as an official language 2Has tswana as an official language 2Has sotho as an official language 2Has venda as an official language 2Has ndebele as an official language 2Uses the rand 3Is a member of the commonwealth 55Is a member of the african union 54Is a member of the g20 19Mainly exports manufactured goods 83Is in southern africa 5

South Africa in the Daily Ceteris

Questions from the daily puzzle where the answer is South Africa.

Which country mines the most platinum?

South Africa's Bushveld Complex holds most of the planet's platinum, giving it roughly 70% of world mine output. Because platinum's main use is cleaning petrol-engine exhaust, the shift to electric vehicles is a slow-motion demand shock for one dominant supplier. source

Among the G20 economies, which has the highest income inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient?

South Africa's Gini of 54.1 is by some way the highest in the G20 — a legacy of apartheid-era exclusion from land, education and jobs that has proved stubbornly persistent since 1994. It has fallen from about 65 in 2005, and on latest available surveys four smaller economies now sit above it globally: Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini and Colombia. source

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Country data from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and the UNDP Human Development Report (CC BY 3.0 IGO)
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