Founded in 1898 by Paul Kruger, the park remains dedicated to the importance of wildlife preservation. Despite its diversity, the wildlife has existed harmoniously since the early days and the park will remain a haven for the world's animal lovers for many years to come. Every day sees further removal of the original fence which once contained Kruger's 12,000 square miles, allowing the animals to follow the natural migratory paths trodden by their predecessors.  

LOCATION: Southern Africa,
at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

AREA:

Total area:	1,219,912 sq km
Land area:	1,219,912 sq km

Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Note: includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island)

LAND BOUNDARIES:

Total	4,750 km
Botswana	1,840 km
Lesotho	909 km
Mozambique	491 km
Namibia	855 km
Swaziland	430 km
Zimbabwe	225 km
Coastline	2,798 km

CLIMATE:
Mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights

TERRAIN:
Vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain

NATURAL RESOURCES:
Gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas

LAND USE:

Arable land:	10%
Permanent crops:	1%
Meadows and pastures:	65%
Forest and woodland:	3%
Other:	21%

POPULATION:
Total: 45,095,459 (July 1995 est.)

ETHNIC DIVISIONS:

Black	75.2%
White	13.6%
Colored	8.6%
Indian	2.6%

RELIGIONS:
Christian (most whites and coloreds and about 60% of blacks), Hindu (60% of Indians), Muslim 2%

LANGUAGES:
Eleven official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

LABOR FORCE:
13.4 million economically active (1990)

By Occupation:
Services	35%
Agriculture	30%
Industry	20%
Mining	9%
Other	6%

CAPITAL:
Pretoria (administrative)
Cape Town (legislative)
Bloemfontein (judicial)

ECONOMY OVERVIEW:
Many of the white one-seventh of the South African population enjoys income, material comfort, and health and educational standards equal to those of Western Europe. In contrast, most of the remaining population suffers from the poverty patterns of the Third World, including unemployment and lack of job skills. The main strength of the economy lies in its rich mineral resources, which provide two-thirds of exports. Economic developments for the remainder of the 1990s will be driven largely by the new government's attempts to improve black living conditions, to set the country on an aggressive export-led growth path, and to cut back the enormous numbers of unemployed. The economy in recent years has absorbed less than 5% of the more than 300,000 workers entering the labor force annually. Local economists estimate that the economy must grow between 5% and 6% in real terms annually to absorb all of the new entrants, much less reduce the accumulated total.

Edited from the CIA World Factbook