South Africa (2009) - Salient Contemporary Features in Facts and Figures

South Africa is a demographically diverse country where many divisions (still) tend to coincide with racial boundaries, beset by a wide range of socio-economic problems typical of developing countries and otherwise stemming from its colonial past and a discriminatory past policy of apartheid. The paper describes the country's salient features in facts and figures in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of society in terms of demography, education, employment, public health care, poverty, housing, crime and the economy. The picture presented tends to be on the dark side, but also hopeful for the future thanks to inter alia a strong globalised economy.