South Africa or the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is one of the largest states in Africa. The country is located in the extreme south of this continent and, figuratively speaking, is a giant breakwater separating two oceans, the Atlantic (in the west) and the Indian (in the east).

The border between these two giant bodies of water runs through the most southern point Africa, also known as Agulhas.

Visually, it will not be too impressive, but if you study the history of shipwrecks... It is relatively easy to get there if you take Cape Town as the starting point for distances - only 170 km along the highway.

Capitals of South Africa

There are THREE capitals in South Africa! Pretoria is the city where the government and other institutions are located executive power. Cape Town is home to Parliament and Bloemfontein is home to the Supreme Court!

This unique “triplicity” of capitals dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, when, under the auspices of the British Empire, the Union South Africa(Union of South Africa) in 1910, the capitals of the states included in this confederation (the British colonies of Cape and Natal, the Boer: Orange Free State Republic, and the South African Republic or Transvaal), each received its own branch of government.

It is noteworthy that in British Cape Town a symbol and cornerstone of the English political system- parliament.

Johannesburg, Joburg, is not one of the capitals, but the most populous city. Like Pretoria, it is located in the northern part of the country and is not considered the most welcoming place for tourists - crime is rampant.

Visas

The interstate agreement, which entered into force on March 31, 2017, abolished visas to the Republic of South Africa for Russians. The rule applies to those who plan to stay in the country for no more than 90 days and are traveling for tourism or business purposes.

Everyone else will have to apply for a visa to South Africa at the embassy in Moscow. In addition to your passport, tickets and hotel reservations, you will also need to provide detailed program movements. As well as evidence of creditworthiness.

However, it is far from a tourism boom among Russian citizens. Only a couple of tens of thousands of people visit the African country every year.

Population of South Africa

The population of the Republic of South Africa at the beginning of 2016 was about 55 million people. Its composition is heterogeneous!

• 80% of the nation - indigenous people of these places, Africans from various tribes
• About 9% are white (European, mainly from the Netherlands and the UK) and about 9% are mixed race
• People from Asia - about 2.5% of the total population
• The highest population densities are observed in Cape Town, Gauteng province (Pretoria and Johannesburg) and the port of Durban on the Indian Ocean coast.

official languages

South Africa is a multinational and multicultural country, so as many as 11 languages ​​have been approved as official:

• Afrikaans (derived from Dutch), very common here and in neighboring Namibia (it is considered the main language of about 7 million people)
• English
• Local African languages: Ndebele, Southern and Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xoza and Zulu

Brief description of South Africa

Currently, the Republic of South Africa is administratively divided into 9 provinces (Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, North West Province, Free State, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal) - this division has existed since 1994

• Before this period, the country had only four historical provinces: the Cape or Cape - the largest in area, Natal, the Orange Free State and Transvaal

Province Map, Mart Bouter

The head of the executive branch is the president - the leader of the majority party in the lower house of parliament (National Assembly) is appointed to this post. The parliament is bicameral, consists of the National Council of Provinces (90 members) and the National Assembly (400 members), re-elected every 5 years.

• Territory of South Africa: 1,221,037 km2
• Official currency: rand (ZAR). In 2018, 1 South African rand is approximately equal to 5 rubles
• Telephone code: +27

The modern national flag of South Africa was designed for the general elections in April 1994. Red, white and blue colors represents the country's past, closely associated with the colonists from the Netherlands.

Against this background is a fork-shaped cross made from the traditional colors of the African National Congress party, which fought against apartheid.

Big cities

Johannesburg, also known as Jozi or Jo'burg. The largest city in the country and the capital of the Gauteng province, the richest and most economically developed. The population of Johannesburg is about 1 million people, together with its suburbs - more than 4 million.

Cape Town (Cape Town or Kaapstad) is the second most populous in the country: about 500 thousand people live in the city itself and up to 3.8 million in the suburbs. The capital of the Western Cape and the seat of parliament.

Cape Town is the country's most popular tourist destination among international travelers. There is a special boom at Christmas and New Year, when summer is in full swing in South Africa and the sun is shining hotly.

Durban is the third most populous city in the country (3.5 million inhabitants including suburbs) and the largest port in Africa. In addition, Durban is a major tourist destination due to its excellent subtropical climate and beaches.

Pretoria (Pretoria Philadelphia) - about 700 thousand people live in the city itself, and together with the suburbs the population reaches almost 3 million. It is in Pretoria that the executive authorities and main government institutions are located.

POPULATION
According to the 1996 census, 40.6 million people lived in South Africa: Africans - 77%, whites - 11%, mestizos (descendants of mixed marriages of Europeans and Africans, the so-called "colored") - 9%, immigrants from Asia, in mostly Indians - approx. 3%.

The main ethnic groups of the black population are Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Tswana, Sutho, Venda, Ndebele, Pedi and Tsonga. About 59% of whites speak Afrikaans, 39% speak English. Afrikaners are descendants of the Dutch, French Protestants (Huguenots) and German settlers who began to populate South Africa in 1652. After Great Britain took possession of the Cape Colony in 1820, the influx of immigrants from England increased. The ancestors of the Colored people were the indigenous people of southern Africa - the Hottentots (Khoikoin) and Bushmen (San), as well as Malay slaves from the Netherlands East Indies and the first European settlers. The Asian population is mainly descendants of Asians recruited to work on the sugar plantations of Natal, mainly Indians, who began arriving in South Africa from 1860, as well as merchants, mainly from Bombay, who arrived there later. There are 11 official languages ​​in South Africa.
Demographic statistics. Old data on fertility, mortality and vital statistics did not take into account Africans, who made up more than three-quarters of the country's population, and therefore cannot be considered reliable. The white minority government and some statistical organizations published separate data on the white, colored and Asian populations. The most objective results are the results of the 1996 census, when the population of villages and temporary settlements was taken into account for the first time.
Africans. During the period 1948-1991 African population South Africa was subject to systematic oppression and repression by the ruling minority. Many Africans maintained their ethnic identity. This applies primarily to the Zulu people, whose ruler retains significant influence. Tensions between some ethnic groups of the African population and political rivalry on the eve of the elections held in April 1994 resulted in numerous armed clashes. After the formation of the new government, passions have subsided somewhat, but tensions in interethnic relations remain.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, about half the African population lived in ten bantustans, which were created by the white minority government to deny Africans citizenship in South Africa. Each bantustan had one or more ethnic groups led by a leader whose candidacy was approved by the South African government. The white minority government recognized four Bantustans (Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei and Venda) as independent states, but none received international recognition. Economically, bantustans were underdeveloped and were intended to regulate the flow of black workers into the white-controlled South African economy. When the country became a multiracial democracy in 1994, all bantustans were eliminated. According to 1996 data, the African population predominated in seven of the nine provinces, and in four it was over 90%.
During apartheid, many Africans could only live separately from whites, in special settlements - townships. Africans who worked as domestic servants for whites, in the gold and diamond mines, and in the steel industry, were otkhodniks, their families remaining in the villages. In the mining industry, they worked on a contract basis and lived in special compounds near the place of work.
The forced migration of first black men and then women to find work in “white” areas and large cities had a detrimental effect not only on the traditional way of life, but also on family relationships. The population of the Bantustans was predominantly women, children and the elderly, since most men between the ages of 16 and 60 worked to provide for their families or save money for a wedding. A significant part of the funds necessary to provide a living wage for the residents of the Bantustans came from otkhodniks.
From the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 until 1994, the white population was the politically dominant group and still holds a dominant position in the economy. The white population of South Africa consists of two main groups.
Afrikaners, also called Boers (Dutch for "peasants"), outnumber whites everywhere except in some areas of KwaZulu-Natal. Most of them are in the provinces of Gauteng and the Western Cape. In 1991, most Afrikaners lived in cities. The profitability of Boer farms declined, especially in the 1920s, and many Boers were forced to move permanently to the cities. With rising unemployment in the 1930s, the government and labor unions reserved jobs for whites in certain sectors of the economy.
Afrikaners form a tightly knit community. Almost all of them are followers of the Dutch Reformed Church, which until 1990, when apartheid was anathema, justified the idea of ​​white supremacy and the practice of racial discrimination. Afrikaners speak Afrikaans, which is based on Dutch.
Anglo-Africans. Compared to the Afrikaners, the English-speaking white population lives more compactly. In some areas of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, Anglo-Africans are engaged in agriculture, but the majority live in cities. In addition to the small (100 thousand people) but influential Jewish community, English-speaking whites belong to the Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches. Some Anglo-Africans remain attached to Great Britain, but most consider South Africa their homeland. This white population group includes all recent immigrants who do not speak Dutch.
Asian population. Asians occupy an intermediate position between blacks and whites. The majority of Asians live in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and in the suburbs of Johannesburg. Part of the Asian population still works on sugar plantations in KwaZulu-Natal or in industrial enterprises and institutions in Durban, the main seaport of the province, while others are successful traders and owners of large real estate. Under the Law on Group Stratification, which was repealed in 1991, many property owners did not have the right to live in own homes. The first civil disobedience campaigns were carried out to improve the situation of the country's Asian population. For a long time, the South African Indian Congress and the Natal Indian Congress worked closely with the African National Congress.
Cities and urban areas. Africans make up the majority of the population in many major cities and urban areas. Until 1994, black urban residents were not counted in censuses or included in statistical reports because the white minority government treated them as residents of bantustans rather than the urban areas where they actually lived. Townships of black or colored residents located on the outskirts of large cities, even if they were larger in area and population than the city itself, were often not included in the list of settlements. According to the 1991 census and other sources that contain reliable data on the size of the urban African population, the largest cities in South Africa are (in thousands of people): Cape Town - 854.6 (with suburbs 1.9 million), Durban - 715.7 (1 .74 million), Johannesburg - 712.5 (4 million), Soweto - 596.6, Pretoria - 525.6 (1.1 million), Port Elizabeth - 303.3 (810), Umlazi - 299 .3, Idhai - 257.0, Mdantsane - 242.8, Deepmeadow - 241.1, Likoa - 217.6, Tembisa - 209.2, Katlehong - 201.8, Evaton - 201.0, Roodepoort-Mareburg - 162 .6, KwaMashu - 156.7, Pietermaritzburg - 156.5 (265), Mamelodi - 154.8, Daveyton - 151.7, Soshanguve - 146.3, Germiston - 134.0, Bloemfontein - 126.9 (280, 0), Alexandra - 124.6, Boksburg - 119.9, Carltonville - 118.7 (175.0), Bochabelo 117.9, Benoni - 113.5, Kempton Park - 106.6, East London - 102 .3 (365.0) and Ntuzuma - 102.3.

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Africa Tur → Reference materials → EAST AND SOUTH AFRICA → Population of South Africa

Population of South Africa

It is difficult to find a country on the globe where the national question has become as acute and topical as in South Africa. People with non-white skin color - the absolute majority of the country's population - are subjected to strong national oppression here. The non-European population, which makes up the bulk of South Africa's labor force, is brutally exploited by local and foreign monopolies.

In South Africa you can meet representatives of a wide variety of races and nationalities, hear English, French, German speech, the melodious dialect of the Bantu peoples, and the “clicking” sounds of the languages ​​of the Bushmen and Hottentots. But more often you can hear Afrikaans, which developed on the basis of ancient Dutch dialects and is very different from the modern Dutch language. Such ethnic and linguistic diversity is the result of the complex history of the formation of the country's population.

South Africa is an exception among other African countries in its high proportion of people of European descent - about 50% of the country's total population. Other characteristic feature- a relatively high proportion of people from Asian countries - approximately 3% of the population. This part of it is subject to brutal exploitation, just like the local African population. National and class interests. African and other racial groups of the non-white population basically coincide, which objectively creates a common platform for their joint struggle.

Discovery in the second half of the 19th century. The richest deposits of gold and diamonds in the interior regions contributed to their rapid settlement and development. In less than a quarter of a century, the white population of southern Africa has grown 20-fold. Immigration still exists today. It has noticeably decreased in Lately, although the government encourages skilled labor from Europe to enter the country.

The number of immigrants arriving annually does not exceed 1% of the total

the size of the white population. Previously, the majority were immigrants from Great Britain, but now their number has noticeably decreased, but the number of immigrants from Germany and the Netherlands has increased (many former Nazis also found refuge in South Africa).

Now the population of South Africa is growing mainly due to natural growth, and its rate, especially among the non-European population, is significant (2.5-3% per year). The entire population of South Africa is officially divided into 4 groups: Africans* (according to 1979 estimates, 21.1 million), whites (4.7 million), mestizo, or, according to the official terminology adopted in South Africa, “colored” ( 2.6 million) and people of Asian origin (0.8 million).

Fearing the consolidation of national liberation forces in the country, the government artificially seeks to divide individual ethnic groups, preserve tribal remnants among Africans, and incite national enmity between different peoples.

Bantu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. It accounts for over 70% of the total population. The Bantu speak several languages, the most important of which are Zulu, Xhosa, Sutho, Tswana and Swazi. The Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi languages ​​are closely related and are usually grouped into a group of languages ​​called Nguni.

IN social life The Bantu have undergone significant changes. Large patriarchal families gave way to small ones; the number of polygamous families has sharply decreased; Religious views have changed. Instead of traditional tribal cults, European colonists imposed Christianity on the Bantu. In Bantustans, the long-established Bantu division of labor between men and women has also been violated. Previously, men were engaged in cattle breeding, and women – in agriculture, but now almost all the work in Bantustans is performed by women and old people. Young men are forced to spend most of their time working outside the Bantustans.

Until now, the main clothing in Bantustans remains loincloths and “karossa” capes. Only the traditional karossams made from the skins of wild animals were replaced by karossams made from blankets.

Europeans are the second largest ethnic group. Its backbone consists of Afrikaners, or Boers (about 60% of the European population), and the British (38%). People from other European countries and the Middle East also live in South Africa. The most numerous of them are Germans and Jews (1% each). Jewish community in

South Africa is one of the richest in the world. The spiritual kinship of the rulers of South Africa and Israel, the identity of the tasks assigned to them by world imperialism, explain the increasingly strengthening alliance between Pretoria and Tel Aviv.

Afrikaners have long lost ties with the Netherlands and consider South Africa their homeland. In contrast, the British maintain close ties with Great Britain. First of all, this is expressed in the commonality of the language. At the same time, language is one of the significant differences between Afrikaners and the British. Both Afrikaans and English are recognized as official languages ​​in South Africa. Even in schools, teaching is often conducted in parallel in two languages. Afrikaners and the British also differ in religion. Afrikaners belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, and the British belong to the Anglican, Lutheran, etc.

The historical distinction between the spheres of activity between these ethnic groups is now disappearing. Previously, the Boers were predominantly farmers and pastoralists and lived on isolated farms. The British mainly settled in cities, where they were engaged in trade and industry. Over the past quarter century, the process of mastering the Afrikaners has intensified key positions in various industries. Afrikaners predominate in the police, army and civil servants.

The "colored" group has a very diverse ethnic composition. It includes the Cape Coloureds, Hottentots, Bushmen, Malays, Zanzibaris and the entire group constitutes the Cape Coloureds, whose racial identity is uncertain. Singling them into a special group is artificial and has no linguistic or cultural basis. "Cape Coloreds" appeared at the dawn of European colonization as a result of intermarriage between Europeans and the indigenous people of southern Africa. In 1949, nationalists passed a law banning marriages between members of different racial groups. But even now about V3 of South African whites have an admixture of African blood.

An ethnic group of people of Asian origin began to form only in the 60s of the 19th century, when contracted agricultural workers from India began to be imported to southern Africa to expand sugar cane plantations in Natal and due to a lack of skilled labor. In less than half a century, from 1870 to 1911, the number of imported Indians reached 100 thousand.

Various ethnic groups in South Africa have their own territorial centers. Thus, the most “English” is the province of Natal, the “Afrikaner” ones are Transvaal and Orange, greatest number Mestizos live in the Cape Province.

The economically active population makes up approximately 40% of the total population. Around Uz he works in agriculture, followed by the service sector, manufacturing and mining. The non-white population is employed mainly in those sectors of the economy where labor is most difficult and exhausting. At the same time, among non-Europeans there is a large number of actually unemployed. Persons in public service are mainly Europeans. South Africa has the largest police force in Africa and regular army, consisting mostly of whites.

South Africa is experiencing an acute shortage of skilled labor, which is explained primarily by the apartheid policy: the “color barrier” deprives non-whites of the opportunity to obtain high qualifications and perform more complex and highly paid jobs.

The working class accounts for 44 of the country's population. Urban workers - Africans and other non-whites - are the most revolutionary part of the South African working class.

Over 75% of whites live in cities. Almost half of them are concentrated in the south of the Transvaal - in the Witwatersrand industrial region. Most of the rural population of European origin lives in the south and southwest of the Cape Province, an area of ​​intensive Agriculture. Some areas of the Namib and Kalahari deserts are almost deserted, and in the vast arid spaces of the internal plateau, settlements are located mainly along river valleys and in areas of artificial irrigation.

Sharp contrasts are presented by the deserted Cape Mountains and the densely populated fertile valleys adjacent to them in the west with orchards and vineyards, the swampy river valley. Limpopo and the mining centers of the Bushveld, the Drakensberg and the valleys of the Natal foothills.

The process of industrialization resulted in a rapid increase in the urban population in post-war years. Mining centers are growing, both old ones - the cities of the Witwatersrand, and new ones: Phala Borwa, Saishen, Prisca, etc. Their rapid growth is largely due to the immigration of the African and “colored” population, and not only the male population of Bantustans comes here in search of work , but also residents of other countries in Southern and Eastern Africa (Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi, etc.). A significant number of Africans living in cities and industrial centers are temporary residents who, when unable to work or at the end of their contract, return to the bantustans or to the country from which they came. Manufacturing cities are also growing as a result of the arrival of immigrants from European countries.

South Africa is dominated by small towns with populations ranging from 2 to 10 thousand people. According to existing legislation, all settlements that have local municipal government in one form or another are considered cities. These are small towns - centers of agricultural areas (for example, Fran Schuk or Swellendam), and numerous mining centers in South Africa (Tabazim bi, Postmasburg, Saichen, etc.), and cities - centers of the manufacturing industry, often with pronounced specialization ( "metallurgical" fer riniching - Vanderbijlpark or "chemical" - Sasolburg and Moddervon Tein).

The ports that stand out are Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London. These are modern large multifunctional cities. They owe their appearance and growth to the beneficial geographical location. For a long time, a significant part of the immigrants arriving in Africa settled in them; various industrial enterprises, equipped with imported equipment and often working on imported raw materials.

There are many cities in the country - administrative centers, among which Pretoria and Cape Town occupy a special position.

The country's largest city, its financial and commercial capital, is Johannesburg, whose population has exceeded 1.5 million people and continues to grow steadily: in the last 30 years alone it has more than doubled. Johannesburg is not only the most important center, but also the link between the leading industrial region of South Africa - the Witwatersrand complex and its surroundings. This main economic core, occupying approximately 1% of the country's territory, concentrates up to 2/5 of its population. Of the 20 South African cities with a population exceeding 50 thousand people, 10 are part of the Witwatersrand metropolitan area.

General" Population English possessions are about 15 million, the southern part of Portuguese Mozambique is about 2.5 million. These data are approximate. General censuses that more or less accurately determine the population are carried out in the Union of South Africa (the last census was carried out on May 7, 1946) and in Southern Rhodesia (the last census was carried out on August 1, 1948). Statistical data for other territories, to a certain extent, fully take into account only the adult male population: this is necessary for taxation and identification of labor reserves. Colonial officials take into account the number of the rest of the population very roughly, while allowing great arbitrariness.

Professor Schapera of the University of Cape Town speaks of the population censuses for Bechuanaland as follows: 4 / “None of these censuses can be considered accurate, ... earlier censuses cannot be trusted at all.” To support this assessment, he cites two shining examples. One of the official reports on the population of the Ghanzi region indicated that 7 thousand men live there, 3 thousand. women, and only 10 thousand people. The male to female ratio (7:3) was clearly absurd, yet this data was included in the report. Two years later, another colonial official assigned to this area reported that “approximately 2 thousand people” lived in the Ghanzi region. Another example: a report for 1936 indicated that 42,158 people lived in the Tawana Reserve; in 1939-1940 a commission to study sleeping sickness visited all the villages of this reserve, counted the population of each village and came to the conclusion that the population of the reserve does not exceed 35 thousand 1

The accounting of the ethnic composition of the population is even worse. The accounting is based on the racial principle - based on skin color: whites - Europeans, blacks - natives, “colored” - mulattoes, etc. All speakers of Bantu languages ​​are combined into one general group“natives”, and in some cases it includes mulattoes, Hottentots and Bushmen, in others - mulattoes, Hottentots and Bushmen are counted separately in the “colored” group. Only Europeans are accurately counted.

The following table, compiled from the latest censuses and estimates of the last five years, gives a rough picture of the ethnic composition of the English possessions (thousands):

English possessions				Indians and other Asians
Union of South Africa (1946 census)...................
South West Africa.........
Bechuanaland........................
Basutoland........................
Swaziland........................
Southern Rhodesia (as of 1950)

In Mozambique, the Bantu population in 1940 was estimated at 5 million, Europeans and other non-Bantus in 1945 numbered 60 thousand, including 15 thousand mulattoes and 10 thousand Indians; It is not possible to separately determine the ethnic composition of the population of southern Mozambique.

Bantu

The majority of the population of South Africa (about 78%) is therefore Bantu.

Bantu speak several languages. The most important of them:

	Number of speakers 8, thousand people.		Number of speakers 2, thousand people.
		Kuanyama

The braid is fully developed and the most numerous people South African Bantu. All Xhosa live in South Africa, mainly (85.3%) in the eastern part of the Cape Province, in the Transkei and Ciskei reserves (“on the other” and “this” side of the Kei River). The Zulus are also a well-established people. Most of them live in the province of Natal (76% of the total population of the province). Outside of South Africa, Zulus live in Swaziland and Basutoland. In addition to the Zulus themselves, the Zulu language is spoken by the Matabele in Southern Rhodesia and the Ndebele in the northwestern part of the Transvaal. Most of the Swazis (223 thousand) live in the Transvaal; Only 160 thousand Swazis live in the territory of the Swaziland protectorate. The Xhosa, Zulu and Swazi languages ​​are related (they are combined into one group under common name Nguni). The total number of peoples speaking them is more than 5 million. They inhabit, with the exception of the Matabele and Ndebele, one continuous territory and have all the prerequisites for merging into one nation. Basotho live mainly in South Africa, in the Transvaal and Orange Free State provinces. About half a million Basotho live in the Basutoland Protectorate. Among the Basotho of the Transvaal, the northern Basotho, or Pedi, are distinguished by their language. More than half (68.9%) of the Bechuanas also live in South Africa, mainly in the Transvaal and Cape Province. Basotho, Bechuana and Pedi together make up more than 3 million people, they mostly inhabit a continuous territory and form a single ethnic massif. The Mashona live mainly in Southern Rhodesia, making up, together with the Matabele, the main population of the colony. About 20% of the Mashona live in Mozambique. The Tsonga inhabit Mozambique and the surrounding areas of the Transvaal and Natal. The Ndonga, Kuanyama and Herero languages ​​are spoken by the Bantus of SWA and adjacent areas of Angola.

A review of Bantu settlement shows a picture typical for all of Africa: colonial boundaries do not correspond to ethnic ones, tearing peoples apart. This circumstance, along with the general colonial regime, greatly impedes the merging of the South African Bantu tribes and nationalities into national communities.

The table shows the composition of the Bantu population of South African provinces and protectorates by main ethnic groups (as a percentage of the total) 1.

	Provinces and protectorates
				Oranshevoye Free			Swaziland
Scythe...................
Zulu.................
Basotho............
Pedi...................
Ndebele...............
Bechuanas...............
Swazi.........
Tsonga (shangaan). .
Bavenda...............
Others..............

On the one hand, compact ethnic tracts of Xhosa, Zulus, Basotho and Bechuana stand out. On the other hand, significant interpenetration and mixing of ethnic groups has already occurred; The territorial boundaries of ethnic groups are erased and crossed. Recently, due to the growth of the population of cities and mining centers, this process is proceeding quite quickly. Now it is still difficult to judge the contours of the emerging nations; they will be finally determined only with the victory of the anti-imperialist forces and the liberation of the Bantu from colonial enslavement.