According to thereligionfaqs, Johannesburg [English d ʒ ə ʊ Haen ɪ sbə ː g, Afrikaans jo hanəsbœrx], is the capital of the province of Gauteng, South Africa, 1 750 meters above sea level (most recently collected 2011) 957,400 residents in the metropolitan area, as Metropolitan Municipality including Soweto: 1,645 km 2 and 4.43 million residents.
Seat of a Catholic archbishop and an Anglican bishop; several universities, including the University of the Witwatersrand (English-speaking, founded in 1922) and the University of Johannesburg (multilingual; formed in 2005); Libraries, Museum Africa (history of southern Africa, South African rock art, collection of African musical instruments), museums of art (including Johannesburg Art Gallery), photography, geology and others; several theaters (Civic Theater, Market Theater, etc.), zoological and botanical garden, planetarium. Johannesburg is the most important commercial, financial and industrial center and the seat of most of the country’s commercial enterprises as well as the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC); Stock Exchange (founded in 1889), annual industrial and trade fair; at the same time the center of the mining area, Witwatersrand as well as an important traffic junction. To the east of Johannesburg is the largest airport in southern Africa; Johannesburg has three other airports.
Cityscape
The image of the city is determined by its chessboard-like floor plan and, in the core, by numerous high-rise complexes, including the Standard Bank Center (1965–70, by H. Hentrich & Partners), the Carlton Center (1969–73, by SOM), and the IBM Building (1975, by Philip Dowson ) and the building completely clad with mirror glass (1980–84, by H. Jahn ) on Diagonal Street, which is in sharp contrast to the surrounding two-story commercial buildings. The tallest structure is the 270 m high Telkom Joburg Tower (1968–71) in the center, which shapes the skyline of Johannesburg. The few remaining historic buildings include the Post Office on Rissik Street, a brick building from 1897–1902 (now a National Monument), and the City Hall (1910–15). The market halls, built in 1913 in the Newton district, now house the various stages of the Market Theater (opened in 1976), which plays a leading role in contemporary South African theater. The Johannesburg Art Gallery, one of the oldest galleries in the country (1915), has important works of European painting. The new building for the Apartheid Museum (completed in 2002) between downtown and Soweto, on the site of a former gold mine, was built according to plans by Gapp Architects and others. A remarkable example of international train station architecture is the Faraday Market and Transport Interchange (completed in 2003) by Albonico & Sack Architects / MMA Architects from Johannesburg. The new constitutional court was completed in 2004 based on designs by Urban Solutions and omm Design Workshop. Gold Reef City, a reconstructed gold rush town, is located in the south-east of the city on a disused mine site. The spoil heaps of the gold mines in the south of the city are increasingly being worked up and greened. Sack Architects / MMA Architects from Johannesburg realized Faraday Market and Transport Interchange (completed in 2003). The new constitutional court was completed in 2004 based on designs by Urban Solutions and omm Design Workshop. Gold Reef City, a reconstructed gold rush town, is located in the south-east of the city on a disused mine site. The spoil heaps of the gold mines in the south of the city are increasingly being worked up and greened. Sack Architects / MMA Architects from Johannesburg realized Faraday Market and Transport Interchange (completed in 2003). The new constitutional court was completed in 2004 based on designs by Urban Solutions and omm Design Workshop. Gold Reef City, a reconstructed gold rush town, is located in the south-east of the city on a disused mine site. The spoil heaps of the gold mines in the south of the city are increasingly being worked up and greened.
History
Johannesburg, largest city in the Republic of South Africa. Located in the southern Transvaal 1,750 m above sea level, with 4.43 million residents (urban agglomeration). The city is the center of the largest gold fields in the world (on the Witwatersrand) and the most important commercial and industrial center of South Africa. Johannesburg was founded in 1886 as a gold rush settlement.
Johannesburg was founded in 1886 by the authorized representatives of the Transvaal government, Johann Rissik and C. Johannes Joubert, in the wake of the gold discoveries on the Witwatersrand. It quickly developed from a gold digger settlement into the economic center of the Transvaal. In 1895 the city already had 100,000 residents (mostly white people) and was connected to Cape Town by a railroad. British troops occupied Johannesburg on May 31, 1900. In 1976 the city was the scene of bloody riots in resistance to the apartheid regime.
