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LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENTTOPOGRAPHYCLIMATEFLORA AND FAUNAENVIRONMENTPOPULATIONMIGRATIONETHNIC GROUPSLANGUAGESRELIGIONSTRANSPORTATIONHISTORYGOVERNMENTPOLITICAL PARTIESLOCAL GOVERNMENTJUDICIAL SYSTEMARMED FORCESINTERNATIONAL COOPERATIONECONOMYINCOMELABORAGRICULTUREANIMAL HUSBANDRYFISHINGFORESTRYMININGENERGY AND POWERINDUSTRYSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYDOMESTIC TRADEFOREIGN TRADEBALANCE OF PAYMENTSBANKING AND SECURITIESINSURANCEPUBLIC FINANCETAXATIONCUSTOMS AND DUTIESFOREIGN INVESTMENTECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTHEALTHHOUSINGEDUCATIONLIBRARIES AND MUSEUMSMEDIAORGANIZATIONSTOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATIONFAMOUS SOUTH AFRICANSDEPENDENCIESBIBLIOGRAPHYRepublic of South Africa. Republiek van Suid Afrika. CAPITAL Pretoria administrative Cape Town legislative Bloemfontein judicialFLAG The national flag, adopted in 1. Bands of red, white, green, white, and blue appear horizontally. ANTHEM Two anthems are currently in use the official anthem, Die Stem van Suid Afrika The Call of South Africa, and Nkosi Sikelel Afrika God Bless Africa, a hymn adopted by most liberation groups. MONETARY UNIT The South African rand r is a paper currency of 1. It is used throughout the South African monetary area. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 1. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES The metric system is in use. HOLIDAYS New Years Day, 1 January Republic Day, 3. May Kruger Day, 1. October Day of the Vow, 1. December Christmas, 2. December Goodwill Day, 2. December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday and Ascension Family Day is a movable secular holiday. TIME 2 pm noon GMT. The area of South Africa is 1,2. Comparatively, the area occupied by South Africa is slightly less than twice the size of the state of Texas. Considered as a whole, South Africa extends 1,8. It is bounded on the n by Botswana and Zimbabwe formerly Rhodesia, on the ne by Mozambique and Swaziland, on the e by the Indian Ocean, on the s by the confluence of the Indian and Atlantic oceans, on the w by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the nw by Namibia. South Africa also controls two small islands, Prince Edward and Marion, which lie some 1,9. Cape Town. South Africas capital city, Pretoria, is located in the northeastern part of the country. South Africa has a mean altitude of about 1,2. Parts of Johannesburg are more than 1,8. There are three major zones the marginal regions, which range in width from 8. Cape folded belt, and western plateau slopes a vast saucer shaped interior plateau, separated from the marginal zone by the Great Escarpment and the Kalahari Basin, only the southern part of which projects into north central South Africa. The land rises steadily from west to east to the Drakensberg Mountains part of the Great Escarpment, the tallest of which is Mt. Injasuti 3,4. 08 m1. Lesotho. The coastal belt of the west and south ranges between 1. Cape. North of the coastal belt stretch the Little and the Great Karoo highlands, which are bounded by mountains, are semiarid to arid, and merge into sandy wastes that ultimately join the arid Kalahari. The high grass prairie, or veld, of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal is famous for its deposits of gold and silver other minerals are found in the Transvaals bush veld. From the Drakensberg, the land falls toward the Indian Ocean in the rolling hills and valleys of Natal, which are covered with rich vegetation and, near the coast, subtropical plants, including sugarcane. The two most important rivers draining the interior plateau are the Orange with its tributary the Vaal, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and the Limpopo, which empties into the Indian Ocean through Mozambique. Of the fast flowing rivers with steeply graded courses that produce spectacular waterfalls, the largest is the Tugela, which rises in the Mont aux Sources and flows swiftly to the Indian Ocean. South Africa lies almost wholly within the southern temperate zone, and its climate is more equable than that of corresponding northern latitudes because of its surrounding waters. Temperature differentials between east and west coasts stem from the influences, respectively, of the warm Mozambique Agulhas Current and the cold Benguela Current. The average daily minimum temperature at Durban, on the east coast, ranges from 1. July to 2. 1c 7. February on the west coast, at Port Nolloth, the range is from 7c 4. Temperatures are cooler in the highlands at Johannesburg, the average daily minimum is 4c 3. June and July and 1. January. On the high veld there are sharp differences. Rainfall is unpredictable in large parts of the country, and prolonged droughts are a serious restriction on farming in such areas. While the mean annual rainfall is 4. Much of South Africa gets its rain in the summer months, but the western coastal belt is a winter rain area. Along the Cape south coast, rain falls during both seasons. The variety of South Africas climate and altitude accounts for its diversified flora and fauna. Major vegetation zones include the forest and palm belt of the east, south, and southwest coasts the temperate grasslands veld of the eastern portion of the interior plateau the desert and semidesert Karoo vegetation of the western interior and the bushveld savanna of the Kalahari and the northeast. Of the 2. 00 natural orders of plants in the world, over 1. South Africa has over 2. There are 2. 00 species of euphorbia, about 3. Cape Province alone, and more than 5. Wild flowers including the protea, South Africas national flower grow in great profusion throughout the Cape region. Aardvark, jackal, lion, elephant, wild buffalo, hippopotamus, and various kinds of antelope are still found in some parts of the country. In the great game parks, animals may be seen living in natural surroundings. So extensive is the variety both of smaller mammals and of plants that they have not yet all been identified. The number of different kinds of birds is estimated at well over 3. The number of species of insects is estimated at 4. Recent industrialization and urbanization have taken their toll on the South African environment, as have such agricultural practices as veld fires, overgrazing of livestock, and intensive use of pesticides. Soil erosion and desertification are two more significant environmental issues in South Africa. Three hundred to four hundred million tons of soil per year are lost. The countrys limited water resources have been impaired by mineralization, eutrophication, and acidic mine drainage. South Africa has 4. The countrys cities produce about 4. Air pollution in urban areas stems primarily from coal burning and motor vehicle exhausts. The government has taken steps to address these issues Johannesburg was the site of the 2. World Summit on Sustainable Development, and South Africa is seen as a leader of the developing world on issues such as climate change, conservation, and biodiversity. The principal environmental bodies are the Department of Water Affairs, the Department of Environmental Affairs, and the Department of National Health and Population Activities. Vbs Delete All Files In A Folder And Subfolders In Mail. Pursuant to a government white paper about environmental conservation policy, approved in 1. It included development of a comprehensive technology for treating sewage and industrial effluents, surveys of threatened natural habitats, research on marine pollution, monitoring of atmospheric pollutants, and a program of environmental education in the public schools. According to a 2.