Location: Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa.
Geographic coordinates: 29° 0' S, 24° 0' E
Coastline km: 2,798 km km
Climate: Mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
Terrain: Vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Elevation: highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m
Natural hazards: Prolonged droughts
Currency: rand (ZAR)
Population: 44,344,136
Languages: IsiZulu 23.8%, IsiXhosa 17.6%, Afrikaans 13.3%, Sepedi 9.4%, English 8.2%, Setswana 8.2%, Sesotho 7.9%, Xitsonga 4.4%, other 7.2% (2001 census)
Capital: Pretoria (note: Cape Town is the legislative center and Bloemfontein the judicial center)
Divisions: 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Western Cape