King: Carl XVI Gustaf Prime minister: Fredrik Reinfeldt
President: Jacob Zuma
Population
9,103,788
48,810,427
Life Expectancy
81.180 years
49.410 years
Capital City
Stockholm
Pretoria (administrative capital)
Largest city
Stockholm (population: 1,253,310)
Cape Town (population: 3,433,440)
Human Development Index
0.958
0.67
GDP per capita
$40,900 US
$11,100 US
Literacy Rate
99%
86.4%
Corruption Perception Index
9.3
4.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
47%
33.9%
Wealthiest Citizens
Ingvar Kamprad & family ($22.0bn US)
Nicky Oppenheimer & family ($5.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
7.500%
24.900%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
constitutional monarchy
republic
Independence date
6 June 1523 (Gustav VASA elected king)
31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State); 31 May 1961 (republic declared) 27 April 1994 (majority rule)
Religions
Lutheran 87%, other (includes Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist) 13%
Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Catholic 7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%, Muslim 1.5%, other Christian 36%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% (2001 census)
Languages
Swedish, small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
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)
Exports
machinery 35%, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp and wood, iron and steel products, chemicals
gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment
External Debt
$1,016,000,000,000 $
$46,070,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Swedish kronor (SEK) per US dollar - 6.4074 (2008 est.), 6.7629 (2007), 7.3731 (2006), 7.4731 (2005), 7.3489 (2004)
rand (ZAR) per US dollar - 7.9576 (2008 est.), 7.05 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.500%
1.700%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
5
1
Location
Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, Kattegat, and Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway
Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa
Area
450,295 km sq
1,219,090 km sq
Coastline
3,218 km
2,798 km
Climate
temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights
