South Africa at a Glance 2009-10 (part 1)

South Africa is one of the world's riches nations in raw materials, producing more platinum many other minerals than any other country in the world. The number of tourists visiting South Africa has increased in the past decade. It has a spectacular diversity of wildlife and scenery, beautiful beaches, luxury hotels, attractive wine estates and an enviable lifestyle. South Africa is the continent's industrial and financial super-power. It produces about one third of sub-Saharan GDP and enjoys a huge trade surplus with its neighbours. It has more phones, cars and ATMs than the rest of Africa put together. South Africa is a rainbow nation of at lease nine African, three Asian, and half a dozen European cultures. There are 11 official languages. South Africa has produced seven Nobel Prize winners (for Peace, Literature and Medicine). South Africa has more animal species than North and South America combined, or Europe and Asia combined South Africa is home to: ->the world's largest land mammal (African Elephant) ->the tallest (Giraffe) and fastest (Cheetah) mammals ->the largest antelope (Eland) and bird (Ostrich) ->900 bird species, 6000 spider species, 175 varieties of scorpion and 100 different snakes. (Taken from "SA at a glance" by "Editions Inc") Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!