Africa · Southern Africa
Capital: Pretoria
South Africa
Explore the facts and rankings that shape South Africa in Country Blitz, from its population and economy to its military, innovation, manufacturing, and neighboring countries.
Country Blitz power profile
Overall rank #34
South Africa's Country Blitz power profile compares population, GDP, military expenditure, research-and-development spending, and manufacturing output across every playable country. A lower numerical rank represents a stronger position in that category.
Population
64.7M
#24 of 196
88th percentile
2025 · World Bank WDI / UN population sources
View data source ↗GDP (Nominal)
$427.18B
#39 of 196
81st percentile
2025 · World Bank WDI
View data source ↗Military Expenditure
$2.84B
#57 of 196
71st percentile
2024 · SIPRI via World Bank WDI
View data source ↗R&D Spending
$2.51B
#42 of 196
79th percentile
2022 · UNESCO UIS and World Bank WDI
View data source ↗Manufacturing Output
$52.35B
#39 of 196
81st percentile
2025 · World Bank WDI
View data source ↗Quick facts
- Capital
- Pretoria
- Region
- Africa
- Subregion
- Southern Africa
- Country code
- ZAF
Three interesting facts
South Africa shares land borders with 6 countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe.
South Africa spans roughly 1,221,037 square kilometers, placing it around 24th by area in this factbook.
The country’s linguistic landscape includes Afrikaans, English, and South Ndebele, reflecting a notably diverse cultural history.
Geography
South Africa on the map
South Africa is located in Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. Its terrain is vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain. The climate is mostly semiarid, subtropical along east coast, sunny days, cool nights. In area, the country is slightly less than twice the size of Texas.
Economy
Economic profile
South Africa's economy is characterized by upper-middle-income, largest southern African economy, Government of National Unity facing slow growth, fiscal gaps, and structural challenges, high income inequality, unemployment, and poverty, reforms to address electricity generation, transport, and logistics, leading producer and exporter of critical minerals. Major industries include mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textiles, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs, commercial ship repair. Important agricultural products include sugarcane, maize, milk, soybeans, potatoes, wheat, grapes, chicken, oranges, apples (2023). Notable exports include gold, platinum, coal, cars, iron ore (2023).
Demographics
People and population
South Africa has an estimated population of 63,100,945. Language and cultural traditions vary across South Africa. The population includes Black African 80.9%, Colored 8.8%, White 7.8%, Indian/Asian 2.6% (2021 est.). The urban population represents 68.8% of total population (2023).
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Could South Africa conquer the world?
Start a Country Blitz run as South Africa and use its real-world strengths to attack neighboring countries, win head-to-head matchups, and expand across the map.