Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0319/03191.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 28KB | 478 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03191}
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$Title{South Africa
Front Matter}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Harold D. Nelson}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{south
africa
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$Date{1980}
$Log{Global Map*0319101.scf
Figure 1.*0319102.scf
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Country:     South Africa
Book:        South Africa, A Country Study
Author:      Harold D. Nelson
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1980

Front Matter

Foreword

     This volume is one of a continuing series of books written by Foreign
Area Studies, The American University, under the Area Handbook Program. Its
title, format, and substance reflect modifications introduced into the series
in 1978. The last page of this book provides a listing of other country
studies published. Each book in the series deals with a particular foreign
country, describing and analyzing its economic, national security, political,
and social systems and institutions and examining the interrelationships of
those systems and institutions and the ways that they are shaped by cultural
factors. Each study is written by a multidisciplinary team of social
scientists. The authors seek to provide a basic insight and understanding of
the society under observation, striving for a dynamic rather than a static
portrayal of it. The study focuses on historical antecedents and on the
cultural, political, and socioeconomic characteristics that contribute to
cohesion and cleavage within the society. Particular attention is given to the
origins and traditions of the people who make up the society, their dominant
beliefs and values, their community of interests and the issues on which they
are divided, the nature and extent of their involvement with the national
institutions, and their attitudes toward each other and toward the social
system and political order within which they live.

     The contents of the book represent the views, opinions, and findings of
Foreign Area Studies and should not be construed as an official Department of
the Army position, policy, or decision, unless so designated by other official
documentation. The authors have sought to adhere to accepted standards of
scholarly objectivity. Such corrections, additions, and suggestions for
factual or other changes that readers may have will be welcomed for use in
future revisions.

William Evans-Smith
Director, Foreign Area Studies
The American University
Washington, D.C. 20016

Acknowledgments

     The authors are grateful to individuals in various United States and
South African government agencies and private institutions who gave of their
time, data, special knowledge, and authoritative perspective. Gratitude is
also extended to members of the Foreign Area Studies staff who contributed
directly to the preparation of this book. These persons include Karen R.
Sagstetter, Kathryn R. Stafford, and Andrea T. Merrill, who edited the
manuscript and the accompanying figures and tables; Harriett R. Blood and Paul
T. Angel, who prepared the graphics; and Eloise W. Brandt, John Nuzzi, and
Janet B. Connors, who typed the manuscript. The research team appreciates as
well the assistance provided by Gilda V. Nimer, librarian, Ernest A. Will,
publications manager, and Kleeo A. Hondros, administrative assistant.

     Special thanks are due Deborah A. Clement, who illustrated the title page
of chapter 3, and Myra Faison, who designed the cover for the book as well
as the illustrations on the title pages of the other chapters. The inclusion
of photographs in this volume was made possible in part by the generosity of
various individuals and public and private agencies. We acknowledge our
indebtedness especially to those persons who contributed original pictures not
previously published.

Preface

     In economic and military terms, South Africa is the most powerful country
in sub-Saharan Africa. Its location at the continent's southernmost tip with
coasts on the Atlantic and Indian oceans is perceived as one of considerable
strategic importance, and its role as the source of much of the Western
world's gold, diamonds, and industrial minerals gives it substantial economic
significance. Insistent on maintaining a social order in which a White
minority dominates a non-White-largely Black-majority, the republic has been
barred from the councils of many international organizations and has incurred
the censure of most countries of the world. The South African government in
turn seeks to explain and justify its policies in terms of their
appropriateness for the society's complex racial heterogeneity.

     In these circumstances, descriptions and analyses of South African
society often conflict and are characterized by varying degrees of distortion.
South Africa: A Country Study, like its 1970 predecessor the Area Handbook for
South Africa, is based on a wide sampling of the many published sources of
information about the country noted for adding the word "apartheid" to the
international lexicon. This book attempts to provide in compact, convenient,
and balanced form an exposition and analysis of the dominant social, economic,
and political features of South African society.

     The republic has two official languages-Afrikaans and English. All laws
and other government documents are published in both. South Africa: A Country
Study has generally used the English version of official usage. But in the
case of nongovernmental institutions, such as churches or certain economic and
political organizations, Afrikaans has been used if the institution is of
Afrikaner origin and English if it is of English origin. Names or special
terms of this sort are rarely translated in South Africa but are used in the
original form regardless of the mother tongue of the speaker. Place-names are
spelled in accordance with those established by the United States Board on
Geographic Names (BGN) in its gazetteer of April 1954 and supplement of August
1972. An exception has been made in the case of South West Africa, formerly a
League of Nations mandate under South African control. Inasmuch as the United
Nations regards the territory as being under its administration and has
renamed it Namibia-a position to which the United States subscribes-Namibia
has been used here in a contemporary context.

     Available books, articles, and other documents that provide important
amplification of subjects treated in this work are noted in the bibliographic
paragraphs at the end of each chapter. Full references to these and other
valuable sources used by the authors in the preparation of this book are
included in the Bibliography.

     All measurements are presented in the metric system. A conversion table
will assist those readers who may not be familiar with metric equivalents (see
table 1, Appendix).

Country Profile

[See Global Map: Map of South Africa on the globe.]

Country

     Formal Name: Republic of South Africa.

     Short Form: South Africa.

     Administrative Capital: Pretoria.

     Legislative Capital: Cape Town.

     Judicial Capital: Bloemfontein.

Geography

     Size: About 1,229,260 square kilometers; southernmost country of
continental Africa.

     Topography: Major features broad, lofty plateau surrounded by steep
semicircular escarpment and narrow belt of coastal lowlands in west, south,
and east. Terrain features range from temperate and subtropical farmland,
grassland plains, and verdant valleys to craggy mountain peaks, semiarid
scrubland, and sparsely inhabited desert. About 70 percent of total land area
consists of mountains and semidesert; no more than 15 percent cultivable.

     Climate: Despite location, country has wide variety of climatic
conditions. Southwestern Cape area Mediterranean climate, but northeastern
Transvaal and eastern Natal subtropical. Western coastal region, much of
northern Cape Middleveld, and parts of Karoo desert climate. Central Highveld
climate varies from warm to hot in summer and from mild to cold in winter.
Southern an