Johannesburg is the most populous city in South Africa, classified as a megacity; it is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demographia, the Johannesburg–Pretoria urban area is the 26th-largest in the world in terms of population, with 14,167,000 inhabitants. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral, gold and (specifically) diamond trade.
The Witwatersrand is a 56-kilometre-long (35 mi), north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning "white water ridge" in Afrikaans. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west.
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a gold rush that began in 1886 and led to the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a part of the Mineral Revolution.
The Netherlands–South African Railway Company or NZASM was a railway company established in 1887. The company was based in Amsterdam and Pretoria, and operated in the South African Republic (ZAR) during the late 19th century. At the request of ZAR president Paul Kruger, the NZASM constructed a railway line between Pretoria and Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa.
Welkom is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about 140 kilometres (90 mi) northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city's Sesotho name, Matjhabeng means 'where nations meet', derived from the migrant labour system, where people of various countries such as Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique etc. met to work in the mines of the gold fields.
Roodepoort is a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg and Sandton. Johannesburg's most famous botanical garden, Witwatersrand National Botanical Gardens, is located in Roodepoort.
Brakpan is a mining town on the East Rand of Gauteng, South Africa, approximately 38 kilometres east of Johannesburg.
Krugersdorp is a mining city in the West Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa founded in 1887 by Marthinus Pretorius and Abner Cohen. Following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, a need arose for a major town in the west of the reef. The government bought part of the Paardekraal farm and named the new town after the Transvaal president, Paul Kruger. Krugersdorp no longer has a separate municipal government after it was integrated into Mogale City Local Municipality along with surrounding towns. It is now the seat of government for Mogale City.
Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, 40 km (25 mi) west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in 1889, floated the Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company. The town was established in 1890 to serve the new mine and was administered by Krugersdorp until it became a municipality in 1929. Apart from having the largest stamp mill in the world, Randfontein, like many of the other outlying areas of Johannesburg, is essentially a rural collection of farms and small holdings in a particularly beautiful part of Gauteng.
Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Tarkwa has a population of 34,941 people according to 2013 settlement.
Ferreirasdorp is an inner-city suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
Village Main is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. The suburb lies less than a kilometre south of the Johannesburg CBD. Once mining land, now consists of light industry and one of the city's main freeway, M2 runs through the suburb. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.
The West Rand is the urban western part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. This area became settled by Europeans after a gold-bearing reef discovered in 1886 and sparked the gold rush that gave rise to the establishment of Johannesburg.
The Cape Government Railways Type C 0-4-0T Midget of 1902 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The M5 is a long metropolitan route in the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area in South Africa. It starts in Ridgeway in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg. It passes through Mayfair and Brixton before travelling through Melville, Roosevelt Park, Northcliff, Blackheath and traversing the N1 Western Bypass at Randpark Ridge. It passes under the N14 freeway near Muldersdrift passing through the agricultural holding before ending at Kromdraai Road in the Lindley Agricultural Holdings. The main part of the route runs along Beyers Naudé Drive.
George Harrison was the prospector who allegedly discovered gold in the Witwatersrand on Langlaagte farm. He was a friend of George Walker and George Honeyball. He apparently found the main reef in 1886. He later left the Rand.
Kloofendal Nature Reserve is a municipal nature reserve in Roodepoort, South Africa. It is one of the first nature reserves in Johannesburg. It is also recognized as the place where gold was first mined in Johannesburg. The old gold mine can be visited by appointment. There are hiking trails and a small dam.
The Johannesburg Reformed Church (GKSA) was the second congregation of the Reformed Churches in Southern Africa (GKSA) on the Witwatersrand after the Krugersdorp Reformed Church (GKSA), founded only a month earlier.
The Langlaagte Reformed Church was the 28th congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) on the Transvaal and the second in Johannesburg after the Johannesburg Reformed Church (NGK) (1887). The congregation is well known as the spiritual home of the Langlaagte orphanage, later named the Abraham Kriel Children’s Home after Rev. Abraham Kriel, who founded it as pastor of Langlaagte.
The M36 is a short metropolitan route in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa. The entire route is within the city of Krugersdorp in the Mogale City Local Municipality.
