South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa. It is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area, and with close to 60 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation.
The World Bank classifies South Africa as an upper-middle-income economy, and a newly industrialised country.[1][2] Its economy is the largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world.[3] In terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed and living on less than US$1.25 a day.[4][5] Nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence.[6][7]
For further information on the types of business entities in this country and their abbreviations, see "Business entities in South Africa".
- ^ "South Africa". World Bank. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
- ^ David Waugh (2000). "Manufacturing industries (chapter 19), World development (chapter 22)". Geography: An Integrated Approach. Nelson Thornes. pp. 563, 576–579, 633, 640. ISBN 978-0-17-444706-1. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ^ "South Africa". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ "South Africa's Unemployment Rate Increases to 23.5%". Bloomberg. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
- ^ "HDI" (PDF). UNDP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2008.
- ^ Cooper, Andrew F; Antkiewicz, Agata; Shaw, Timothy M (10 December 2007). "Lessons from/for BRICSAM about South-North Relations at the Start of the 21st Century: Economic Size Trumps All Else?". International Studies Review. 9 (4): 675, 687. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2486.2007.00730.x.
- ^ David A. Lynch (2010). Trade and Globalization: An Introduction to Regional Trade Agreements. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7425-6689-7. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
Southern Africa is home to the other of sub-Saharan Africa's regional powers: South Africa. South Africa is more than just a regional power; it is currently the most developed and economically powerful country in Africa, and now it is able to use that influence in Africa more than during the days of apartheid (white rule), when it was ostracised.