Always happy to spread good tidings ... especially about South Africa - came across these happy facts in Faithful to Nature's newsletter: Visit their site at http://www.faithful-to-nature.co.za

The Good News Will Bowl You Over
Each new day that the sun rises and spreads it warmth is a gift. It brings with it new possibilities and new blessings.

In celebration of this, we have dug up some inspiring, hard facts on what makes South Africa great:

* Home to one of the world's 6 floral kingdoms, South Africa has one-tenth (23 200) of the world's flowering plants, of which nearly 19 000 are endemic, making it the richest region in the world in terms of species to area - 1.7 times richer even than Brazil.

* South Africa was ranked as the 18th most attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment by global strategic management consulting firm AT Kearney.

* It is home to more kinds of mammals than North and South America combined; or Europe and Asia together.

* Three South African cities were voted amongst the world's top 100 Most Liveable Cities in a study conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Cape Town was ranked in 85th place, Johannesburg 90th and Port Elizabeth 97th.

* South Africa is one of only 12 countries where tap water is safe to drink. Our tap water is rated the third best worldwide.

* Electricity costs are the second lowest in the world.

* South Africa ranks second worldwide in terms of the transparency surrounding its budgets - just behind the United Kingdom, tie with France, and ahead of New Zealand and the United States - according to the Open Budget Index.

* Johannesburg ranks 2nd among countries from Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa in dealing with urbanisation and environmental challenges, in the MasterCard Insights Report on Urbanisation and Environmental Challenges.

* 21 South African beaches were awarded Blue Flags, an international indicator of high environmental standards for recreational beaches in 2007.

* More than 12,000 'Black Diamond' families (South Africa's new black middle class) - or 50,000 people - are moving from the townships into the suburbs of South Africa's metro areas every month, according to the UCT Unilever Institute's Black Diamonds 2007 survey.

* South Africa is ranked 20th out of a total of 128 economies in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2007, ahead of many developed nations, including, the United States (31), Switzerland (40), Austria (27) and France (51).

* South Africa ranks 57th out of 157 countries in the world in terms of economic freedom, ahead of Italy (64), Brazil (101), the United Arab Emirates (63), Greece (94th), India (104th) and China (126), according to the Index of Economic Freedom 2007.

* Cape Town has the fifth-best blue sky in the world according to the UK's National Physical Laboratory.

* Currently, South Africa is the only country in the world which has voluntarily dismantled its nuclear arsenal.

* Almost a quarter of South Africa's non-interest budget is spent on education.

* South Africa has proclaimed a vast new marine protected area, spanning 180 000 square kilometres, around the Prince Edward Islands in the Southern Ocean. This has paved the way for increased conservation and protection of vulnerable species such as albatrosses, penguins, seals, and killer whales. The new preserve, roughly the size of the state of Oklahoma, is to be known as the Prince Edward Islands Marine Protected Area.

* The Kreepy Krauly was invented in South Africa.

* South Africa has the second oldest Film Industry in the world.

Viva South Africa. We are all one!