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Africa

Today’s South Africa by the Numbers (with Photos)

Juan Cole 12/07/2013

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Population of South Africa: 51 million (slightly larger than South Korea)

Annual Gross Domestic Product (nominal): $384 billion (in neighborhood of Taiwan, Austria, UAE)

Rank among world economies: 29

Rank among African economies: 1

Amount GDP has grown since end of white rule in 1994: 3 times

Number of people added to middle class in past ten years: 10 million

DSCN1671 View of Pretoria from the grounds of the Union Buildings

Annual per capita income: $7500 (like Colombia, Azerbaijan, Romania)

Increase in annual GDP per capita since end of white rule in 1994: 40%

DSCN1631
Nicer part of Soweto, 2012

Adult literacy rate: 89%

Percentage of the economy accounted for by industry: 15%

South-africamap

Number of major labor strikes in 2012: 99 (a five-year high)

Projected economic growth 2013: 2.7%

Annual CO2 emissions: 500 million metric tons (5th in world per capita)

Percentage of the population that lives in cities? 62%, almost two-thirds.

DSCN1598
Johannesburg, 2012

Percentage of South Africans below the poverty line? 31%

DSCN1651
Poor part of Soweto

Average life expectancy at birth: 55

Percentage of the population that is white: 9%

Percentage of the population that is Christian: 80%

DSCN1591

Number of Muslims in South Africa: 750,000 (mainly from India but with some conversions).

Number of Hindus in South Africa: 650,000

(Photos by Juan Cole, August, 2012)

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related video:

Finance News Reports: 9 Challenges Facing the South African Economy:

Filed Under: Africa, Featured

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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