Johannesburg

Johannesburg is the most populous city in South Africa and the second (or third) most populous city in Sub-Saharan Africa, behind Lagos (and probably behind Kinshasa). Local residents have nicknamed the city "Jo'burg", "Jozi", and "". Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng Province, the wealthiest province in South Africa, and the site of the South African Constitutional Court. It is one of the newest major cities in the world, and is one of the few major cities in the world not along a coast or near a large river.

History

:Main article: History of Johannesburg

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The region surrounding Johannesburg has been inhabited for millions of years. One of the oldest human skeletons ever found was discovered in a cave in Sterkfontein, to the northwest of Johannesburg in 1998. The skeleton, nicknamed Mrs Ples, is one of the few examples of Australopithecus africanus ever found, and is believed to be approximately 3.5 million years old.

Related Topics:
Skeleton - Cave - Sterkfontein - 1998 - Mrs Ples - Australopithecus africanus

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Around 100,000 years ago, the Johannesburg region was inhabited by the nomadic Bushmen people. The Bushmen lived in the area until the Bantu-speaking people migrated into the area around the year AD 1060. The Bantu people were Iron Age people who domesticated animals, farmed crops, worked metal, made pottery, and lived in organised villages.

Related Topics:
Nomad - Bushmen - Bantu - Migrated - 1060 - Iron Age - Domesticated animal - Crop - Metal - Pottery - Village

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The region remained inhabited by both the Bushmen and the Bantu people. When Europeans arrived in the area, small numbers of Boers started farms, but there was no major European settlement until the 1880s, when gold was discovered in the region, triggering a gold rush.

Related Topics:
Boer - 1880s - Gold - Gold rush

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Gold was initially discovered slightly to the east of present-day Johannesburg, in Barberton. Gold prospectors soon discovered that there were even richer gold reefs in the Witwatersrand.

Related Topics:
Barberton - Gold prospectors - Gold reef - Witwatersrand

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The town was initially much the same as any small prospecting settlement, but as word spread, people flocked to the area from all other regions of the country as well as from North America, the United Kingdom, and the rest of Europe. As the value of control of the land increased, tensions developed between the Afrikaners, who controlled the region during the nineteenth century, and the British, culminating in the Second Anglo-Boer War. The Boers lost the war and control of the area was ceded to the British.

Related Topics:
North America - United Kingdom - Europe - Afrikaner - Second Anglo-Boer War

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When the Union of South Africa was declared in 1910, this paved the way for a more organised mining structure. The South African government instituted a harsh racial system whereby blacks and Indians were heavily taxed, barred from holding skilled jobs, and consequently forced to work as migrant labour on Johannesburg's growing crop of gold mines.

Related Topics:
Union of South Africa - 1910 - Black - India - Gold mine

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The South African government then instituted a system of forced removals, moving the population of non-European descent into specified areas. It is this system that created the sprawling shantytown of Soweto (South Western Townships), one of the areas where blacks were forced to live during the apartheid era. Nelson Mandela spent many years living in Soweto and his Soweto home in Orlando is currently a major tourist attraction.

Related Topics:
System of forced removals - Soweto - Apartheid - Nelson Mandela - Tourist attraction

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Large-scale violence broke out in 1976 when the Soweto Students' Representative Council organised protests against the use of Afrikaans, considered to be the language of the oppressors, in black schools. Police shot into a student march, and 1000 people died in the following 12 months protesting the apartheid system. One of the most famous victims of the massacre, Hector Pieterson, is commemorated with a large Museum dedicated in his honour in Soweto.

Related Topics:
Violence - 1976 - Soweto Students' Representative Council - Afrikaans - Police - Hector Pieterson - Museum

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The regulations of apartheid were abandoned in February 1990, and since the 1994 elections, Johannesburg has, in theory, been free of discriminatory laws. The black townships have been integrated into the municipal government system, and to some extent, the suburbs have become multiracial. However, there has been a large-scale migration of businesses and commerce away from the Central Business District and southern suburbs in favour of the northern suburbs. This was fueled by perceptions of a rise in the crime rate, serious traffic congestion and inadequate public transport, and a more favourable tax environment for landlords in the northern suburbs prior to the integration of the city.

Related Topics:
February - 1990 - 1994 - Townships - Central Business District

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