South Africa - Transportation

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South Africa is located Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The climate is mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights. The terrain is vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain.

Airports

This entry gives the total number of airports or airfields recognizable from the air. The runway(s) may be paved (concrete or asphalt surfaces) or unpaved (grass, earth, sand, or gravel surfaces) but may include closed or abandoned installations. Airports or airfields that are no longer recognizable (overgrown, no facilities, etc.) are not included. Note that not all airports have accommodations for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control.
Airports : 728 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways - total : 146
Airports - with paved runways - over 3,047 m : 10
Airports - with paved runways - 2,438 to 3,047 m : 5
Airports - with paved runways - 1,524 to 2,437 m : 51
Airports - with paved runways - 914 to 1,523 m : 67
Airports - with paved runways - under 914 m : 13 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total : 582
Airports - with unpaved runways - 1,524 to 2,437 m : 34
Airports - with unpaved runways - 914 to 1,523 m : 300
Airports - with unpaved runways - under 914 m : 248 (2007)

Heliports

This entry gives the total number of heliports with hard- surface runways, helipads, or landing areas that support routine sustained helicopter operations exclusively and have support facilities including one or more of the following facilities
Heliports : 1 (2007)

Pipelines

This entry gives the lengths and types of pipelines for transporting products like natural gas, crude oil, or petroleum products.
Pipelines : condensate 100 km; gas 1,177 km; oil 992 km; refined products 1,379 km (2007)

Railways

This entry states the total route length of the railway network and of its component parts by gauge
Railways - total : 20,872 km
Railways - narrow gauge : 20,436 km 1.065-m gauge (8,931 km electrified); 436 km 0.610-m gauge (2006)

Roadways

This entry gives the total length of the road network and includes the length of the paved and unpaved portions.
Roadways - total : 362,099 km
Roadways - paved : 73,506 km (includes 239 km of expressways)
Roadways - unpaved : 288,593 km (2002)

Merchant marine

Merchant marine may be defined as all ships engaged in the carriage of goods; or all commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc. This entry contains information in four fields - total, ships by type, foreign-owned, and registered in other countries. *** Total includes the number of ships (1,000 GRT or over), total DWT for those ships, and total GRT for those ships. DWT or dead weight tonnage is the total weight of cargo, plus bunkers, stores, etc., that a ship can carry when immersed to the appropriate load line. GRT or gross register tonnage is a figure obtained by measuring the entire sheltered volume of a ship available for cargo and passengers and converting it to tons on the basis of 100 cubic feet per ton; there is no stable relationship between GRT and DWT. *** Ships by type includes a listing of barge carriers, bulk cargo ships, cargo ships, chemical tankers, combination bulk carriers, combination ore/oil carriers, container ships, liquefied gas tankers, livestock carriers, multifunctional large-load carriers, petroleum tankers, passenger ships, passenger/cargo ships, railcar carriers, refrigerated cargo ships, roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, short-sea passenger ships, specialized tankers, and vehicle carriers. *** Foreign-owned are ships that fly the flag of one country but belong to owners in another. *** Registered in other countries are ships that belong to owners in one country but fly the flag of another.
Merchant marine - total : 3
Merchant marine - by type : container 1, petroleum tanker 2
Merchant marine - foreign-owned : 1 (Denmark 1)
Merchant marine - registered in other countries : 8 (Bahamas 1, Nigeria 1, NZ 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Seychelles 1, UK 3) (2008)

Ports and terminals

This entry lists major ports and terminals primarily on the basis of the amount of cargo tonnage shipped through the facilities on an annual basis. In some instances, the number of containers handled or ship visits were also considered.
Ports and terminals : Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay

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