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The rand (sign: R; code: ZAR) is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand (White-waters-ridge in English), the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found. The rand has the symbol "R" and is subdivided into 100 cents, symbol "c". The ISO 4217 code is ZAR, from Dutch Zuid-Afrikaanse rand.
(South African rand). Before 1961, the Dutch language was one of the official languages of South Africa.
The rand is the currency of the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. Although Namibia withdrew from the Common Monetary Area, the rand is still legal tender there.
The rand was introduced on 14 February 1961. A Decimal Coinage Commission had been set up in 1956 to consider a move away from the denominations of pounds, shillings and pence, submitting its recommendation on 8 August 1958. It replaced the South African pound as legal tender, at the rate of 2 rand = 1 pound or 10 shillings to the rand. The government introduced a mascot, Decimal Dan, "the rand-cent man" to familiarise the populace with the new currency. This took place in the same year that the Republic of South Africa was established.
International
Accumulation of Foreign Reserve currencies
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Currency
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1997
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1998
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1999
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2000
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2001
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2002
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2003
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2004
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2005
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2006
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2007
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US
dollar
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65.2%
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69.3%
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70.9%
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70.5%
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70.7%
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66.5%
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65.8%
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65.9%
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66.4%
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65.7%
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Euro
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-
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-
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17.9%
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18.8%
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19.8%
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24.2%
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25.3%
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24.9%
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24.3%
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25.2%
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German
Mark
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14.5%
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13.8%
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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Pound
sterling
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2.6%
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2.7%
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2.9%
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2.8%
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2.7%
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2.9%
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2.6%
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3.3%
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3.6%
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4.2%
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Japanese
yen
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5.8%
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6.2%
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6.4%
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6.3%
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5.2%
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4.5%
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4.1%
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3.9%
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3.7%
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3.2%
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French
franc
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1.4%
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1.6%
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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-
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Swiss
franc
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0.4%
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0.3%
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0.2%
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0.3%
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0.3%
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0.4%
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0.2%
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0.2%
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0.1%
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0.2%
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Other
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10.2%
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6.1%
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1.6%
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1.4%
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1.2%
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1.4%
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1.9%
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1.8%
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1.9%
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1.5%
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Russian
Rouble
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Dinar
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Indian
Rupee
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S.
African Rand
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Chinese
Yuan
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