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Extensible Markup Language | 1995-06-15 | 9KB | 19 lines

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <!DOCTYPE card PUBLIC "-//Apple, Inc.//DTD card V 2.0//EN" "" > <card> <id>44138</id> <filler1>0</filler1> <cantDelete> <false /> </cantDelete> <showPict> <true /> </showPict> <dontSearch> <false /> </dontSearch> <owner>5472</owner> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet_3106.css" /> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>31</id> <text>SOUTH AFRICAOfficial names: Republic of South Africa and Republiek van Suid-AfrikaMember of: UN, OAU, CommonwealthArea: 1223201 km2 (433246 sq mi)Population: 40716000 (1993 est) Capital: Pretoria (administrative capital) 823000 (city 443000), Cape Town (legislative capital) 1912000 (city 777000) (1985 census)Other major cities: Johannesburg 4000000 (city proper 632000; ΓÇÿGreater JohannesburgΓÇÖ 1609000; Soweto 915000; Sasolburg 540000; Vereeniging 540000), Durban 982000 (city 634000), Port Elizabeth 652000 (city 273000), Bloemfontein (judicial capital) 233000 (city 104000) (1985 census)Languages: Xhosa (21%), Zulu (16%), English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, North Sotho, Tswana, Swazi, Ndebele, Venda, Tsonga ΓÇô all official Religions: independent Black Churches (22%), Afrikaans Reformed (12%), Roman Catholic (8%), Methodist (6%), with Anglican, Hindu and Sunni Islam minoritiesGOVERNMENTThe Constitutional Assembly ΓÇô which is scheduled to draft and agree a final constitution within two years ΓÇô comprises a Senate (upper house) and a National Assembly (lower house). The 90-member Senate comprises ten senators appointed from each of the nine provinces in proportion to the number of votes each party receives in that province. The 400-member National Assembly comprises 200 members elected by universal adult suffrage from constituencies and 200 members elected according to a system of proportional representation from the nine provinces that form the quasi-federal system. A President and two Vice-Presidents are elected by the Assembly. A Cabinet of National Unity is responsible to the Assembly. GEOGRAPHYThe Great Escarpment rises behind a discontinuous coastal plain and includes the Drakensberg Mountains, which reach 3408 m (11182 ft) at Injasuti. A vast plateau occupies the interior, undulating in the west and rising to over 2400 m (about 8000 ft) in the east. Much of the west is semi-desert, while the east is predominantly savannah grassland (veld). Principal rivers: Orange (Oranje) 2092 km (1300 mi), Limpopo 1770 km (1100 mi). Climate: South Africa has a subtropical climate with considerable regional variations. The hottest period is between December and February. Rainfall is highest on the east coast, but much of the country is dry.ECONOMYThe country is the worldΓÇÖs leading exporter of gold ΓÇô which normally forms about 40% of South African exports ΓÇô and a major producer of uranium, diamonds, chromite, antimony, platinum and coal (which meets three quarters of the countryΓÇÖs energy needs). Industry includes chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles and electrical engineering. Agriculture supplies one third of South AfricaΓÇÖs exports, including fruit, wine, wool and maize. The highest standard of living in Africa is very unevenly distributed between Whites and Non-whites. The withdrawal of some foreign investors in the 1970s and 1980s increased the drive towards self-sufficiency. The new South Africa is experiencing an economic recovery. Currency: Rand.HISTORYBlack African peoples were long established in what is now South Africa when White settlement began in the Dutch colony of Cape Town (1652). Slaves were imported, but the conquest of the local African societies ΓÇô only completed late in the 19th century ΓÇô provided an alternative source of labor. Britain acquired the Cape (1814), abolished slavery (1833), and annexed Natal (1843). The Boers (or Afrikaners) ΓÇô of Dutch and French Huguenot descent ΓÇô moved inland on the Great Trek (1835ΓÇô37) to found the republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State.After the discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886), the Boers ΓÇô led by Paul Kruger (1825ΓÇô1904), president of the Transvaal ΓÇô resisted British attempts to annex their republics in which British settlers were denied political rights. This culminated in the Boer War (1899ΓÇô1902). Despite their military superiority, the British initially suffered defeats and were beseiged in a number of towns, including Mafeking and Ladysmith. In 1900 the Boers were beaten in the field but began guerrilla action. The British responded by interning the families of the guerrillas, and more than 20000 Boer women and children died of disease in internment camps. Although they lost the war, the Afrikaners were politically dominant when the Union of South Africa was formed (1910). The creation of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912 was a protest against White supremacy, and by the 1920s Black industrial protest was widespread. South Africa entered World War I as a British ally, taking German South West Africa (Namibia) after a short campaign (1914ΓÇô15) ΓÇô after the war, the territory came under South African administration. Despite strong Afrikaner opposition, South Africa ΓÇô under General Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870ΓÇô1950; PM 1919ΓÇô24 and 1939ΓÇô48) ΓÇô joined the Allied cause in World War II.After the Afrikaner National Party came to power (1948), racial segregation was increased by the policy of apartheid (ΓÇÿseparate developmentΓÇÖ), which deprived Blacks of civil rights, segregated facilities (such as schools and hospitals) and areas of residence by race, and confined black political rights to restricted homelands (ΓÇÿBantustansΓÇÖ). Black opposition was crushed following a massacre of demonstrators at Sharpeville, and the ANC was banned (1960) by the government of Hendrik Verwoerd (1901ΓÇô66; PM 1958ΓÇô66, when he was assassinated). International pressure against apartheid increased. In 1961 South Africa left the Commonwealth, the majority of whose members continue to press for economic sanctions against South Africa. In 1966 the UN canceled South AfricaΓÇÖs trusteeship of South West Africa (Namibia), but South Africa continued to block the territoryΓÇÖs progress to independence.Black opposition revived in the 1970s and 1980s and found expression in strikes, the Soweto uprising of 1976, sabotage and the rise of the Black consciousness movement. South African troops intervened in the civil war in Angola against the Marxist-Leninist government (1981) and were active in Namibia against SWAPO nationalist guerrillas. P.W. Botha (1916ΓÇô ; PM 1978ΓÇô1984 and president 1984ΓÇô89) granted political rights to the Colored and Indian communities, and implemented minor reforms for Blacks. However, in 1986 ΓÇô in the face of continuing unrest ΓÇô Botha introduced a state of emergency, under which the press was strictly censored, the meetings of many organizations were banned and the number of political detainees ΓÇô including children ΓÇô rose sharply. His successor F.W. de Klerk released some ANC prisoners, promised further reforms and agreed to UN-supervised elections in Namibia leading to independence for that territory. In 1990 de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and released its imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela (1918ΓÇô ). In 1990ΓÇô91, negotiations between the government and Black leaders led to the dismantling of the legal structures of apartheid. Fighting between (mainly Xhosa) ANC and (mainly Zulu) Inkatha supporters in Black townships caused concern, but a new constitution was agreed and the ΓÇÿhomelandsΓÇÖ were reabsorbed into South Africa. The first multi-racial elections in South Africa were held in March 1994. Mandela was elected President and a multi-party multi-racial Cabinet of National Unity was formed. South Africa has since joined the OAU and rejoined the Commonwealth.</text> </content> <name>South Africa</name> <script></script> </card>