Johannesburg Tourism and Travel Guide

Johannesburg (/dʒoʊˈhænɨsbɜrɡ/; Afrikaans: [joˈɦɐnəsbœrχ]; also known as Jozi, Jo'burg, eGoli, and Joeys, and abbreviated as JHB) is the largest city in South Africa. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. The city is one of the 50 largest urban agglomerations in the world, and is also the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline. The city was named and established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm. The name is attributed to one or all of three men involved in the establishment of the city. In ten years, the population was 100,000 inhabitants. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court, which has the final word on interpretation of South Africa's constitution as well as with issues in connection with constitutional matters. The city is the source of a large-scale gold and diamond trade, due to its location on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills.In 2011, the population of the city of Johannesburg was 4,434,827, making it the largest city in South Africa. In the same year, the population of Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area was 7,860,781. Some view the area surrounding the city of Johannesburg yet more broadly than the metropolitan area, adding Ekurhuleni, West Rand and Lenasia; that larger area had a population of 10,267,700 in 2007. The land area of the municipal city 1,645 km2 (635 sq mi) is large in comparison with those of other major cities, resulting in a moderate population density of 2,364/km2 (6,120/sq mi).A separate city from the late 1970s until the 1990s, Soweto is now part of Johannesburg. Originally an acronym for 'South-Western Townships', Soweto originated as a collection of settlements on the outskirts of Johannesburg, populated mostly by native African workers from the gold mining industry. Soweto, although eventually incorporated into Johannesburg, had been separated as a residential area for blacks, who were not permitted to live in Johannesburg proper. Lenasia is predominantly populated by English-speaking South Africans of Indian descent.