In UN
classification South Africa is a middle-income country with an abundant
supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications,
energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange (the JSE Securities
Exchange), that ranks among the top twenty in the world, and a modern
infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to
major urban centres throughout the region. South Africa is ranked
24th in the world in terms of GDP, corrected for purchasing power
parity, now a days in many kinds of respect South Africa is under-developed,
South Africa is a popular tourist destination, and a substantial
amount of revenue comes from tourism. Among the main attractions
are the diverse and picturesque culture, the game reserves and the
highly regarded local wine,Until about 1870 the economy of the region
was almost entirely based on agriculture. With the discovery of
diamonds and gold in the late 19th cent., mining became the foundation
for rapid economic development. In the 20th cent. The country's
economy was diversified, so that by 1945 manufacturing was the leading
contributor to the gross national product (GNP). By the 1990s, services
contributed almost 60% of the GNP, while industry contributed over
35% and agriculture only about 5%. |
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The economy is largely
controlled by whites, but nonwhites make up more than 75% of the
workforce. Working conditions and pay are often poor, and many nonwhites
work as subsistence farmers.The country has good road and rail networks.
The chief seaports are Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London,
Saldonha Bay, and Mussel Bay, where natural gas is now extracted
offshore. The Orange River Project, a major hydroelectric and irrigation
scheme began in 1963 in central South Africa and was fully operational
by the mid-1980s.The main imports are machinery, transport equipment,
consumer goods, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, industrial
raw materials, and foodstuffs. The South African economy is still
in transitionA century ago South Africa’s economy was agriculture-based,
fifty years later; mining was the anchor of the economy. Today,
financial services are the largest single sector followed closely
by manufacturing. According to the latest estimatesSouth African
citizens, especially in the construction, tourism, agriculture and
domestic service industries. Illegal immigrants are also heavily
involved in informal trading However, many immigrants to South Africa
continue to live in poor conditions, and the South African immigration
policy has become increasingly restrictive since 1994 |
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