31 Facts About Johannesburg

1.

Johannesburg, colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world.

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2.

Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa.

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3.

Soweto, although eventually incorporated into Johannesburg, had been separated as a residential area for blacks only, who were not permitted to live in other White designated suburbs of Johannesburg.

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4.

Region surrounding Johannesburg was originally inhabited by San hunter-gatherers who used stone tools.

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5.

Many Sotho–Tswana towns and villages in the areas around Johannesburg were destroyed and their people driven away during the wars emanating from Zululand during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and as a result, an offshoot of the Zulu kingdom, the Ndebele, set up a kingdom to the northwest of Johannesburg around modern-day Rustenburg.

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6.

In 1917, Johannesburg became the headquarters of the Anglo-American Corporation founded by Ernest Oppenheimer which ultimately became one of the world's largest corporations, dominating both gold-mining and diamond-mining in South Africa.

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7.

For its growth, the economy of Johannesburg depended upon hundreds of thousands of skilled white workers imported from Europe and semi- and un-skilled black workers imported from other parts of Southern Africa.

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8.

In March 1960, Johannesburg witnessed widespread demonstrations against apartheid in response to the Sharpeville massacre.

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9.

At their trial, the accused freely admitted that they were guilty of what they were charged with, namely of planning to blow up the hydro-electric system of Johannesburg to shut down the gold mines, but Mandela argued to the court that the ANC had tried non-violent resistance to apartheid and failed, leaving him with no other choice.

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10.

Between 1984 and 1986, South Africa was in turmoil as a series of nationwide protests, strikes and riots took place against apartheid, and the black townships around Johannesburg were scenes of some of the fiercest struggles between the police and anti-apartheid demonstrators.

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11.

The 2019 Johannesburg riots were similar in nature and origin to the 2008 xenophobic riots.

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12.

Johannesburg is home to some of Africa's tallest structures, such as the Sentech Tower, Hillbrow Tower, the Carlton Centre and Ponte City Apartments.

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13.

Johannesburg is situated on the highveld plateau, and has a subtropical highland climate .

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14.

Johannesburg's suburbs are the product of urban sprawl and are regionalised into north, south, east and west, and they generally have different personalities.

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15.

Johannesburg has Africa's largest stock exchange, the JSE although it has moved out of the central business district.

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16.

Crime levels in Johannesburg have dropped as the economy has stabilised and begun to grow.

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17.

Johannesburg is a cultural hub in South Africa and has a wide variety of cultural venues, making it a prominent area for many creative and cultural industries.

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18.

Johannesburg has not traditionally been known as a tourist destination, but the city is a transit point for connecting flights to Cape Town, Durban, and the Kruger National Park.

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19.

City Parks continues to invest in planting trees, particularly those previously disadvantaged areas of Johannesburg which were not positive beneficiaries of apartheid Johannesburg's urban planning.

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20.

Johannesburg Botanical Garden, located in the suburb of Emmarentia, is a popular recreational park.

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21.

Johannesburg hosted matches from and the final of the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, in which India beat Pakistan in the final.

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22.

Johannesburg is a young and sprawling city, with its public transportation built in its infancy, geared towards private motorists, and lacks a convenient public transportation system.

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23.

The fact that Johannesburg is not near a large navigable body of water has meant that ground transportation has been the most important method of transporting people and goods in and out of the city.

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24.

Johannesburg is served by a bus fleet operated by Metrobus Archived 11 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine, a corporate unit of the City of Johannesburg.

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25.

Johannesburg has two kinds of taxis, metered taxis and minibus taxis.

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26.

Johannesburg is served principally by O R Tambo International Airport for both domestic and international flights.

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27.

Johannesburg has 4 major cellular telecommunications operators: Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom Mobile.

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28.

Johannesburg has a well-developed higher education system of both private and public universities.

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29.

Johannesburg has one of several film schools in the country, one of which has won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Student Film in 2006.

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30.

Johannesburg has a number of regional radio stations such as 94.

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31.

Johannesburg is the headquarters of state-owned broadcaster South African Broadcasting Corporation and pay-broadcast network Multichoice which distributes M-Net and DStv a digital satellite service, while eTV has a presence in the city.

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