Johannesburg, the City of Gold, or Egoli and it is also known is the country's largest city. It owes its existence to the mining sector and has grown into the financial capital of Africa. Due to its status as a travel hub, Johannesburg has evolved into a city with a melting pot of cultures, arguably the country's most cosmopolitan.
It has had to reinvent itself over the years, no longer relying as heavily on the mining industry. The banking sector still has its roots in the CBD, despite the other business entities relocating to the northern suburbs and the Sandton CBD.
As much as Johannesburg has built a reputation as a business and commerce juggernaut, it can be equally captivating after hours. It has a vibrant nightlife whether your leaning is towards fine dining, music, the arts or comedy. It has several theatres spread across the most established parts of town, while its burgeoning community of comedians is very much a troupe on the move. Johannesburg has a racy edge and has a buzz and an energy which has endured since the city was founded.
It is a major sporting hub too. It shares the distinction with London as having hosted the World Cup finals in football, rugby and cricket.
Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, who are the protagonists in one of the bitterest rivalries on the continent, are Joburg's principal football clubs. To the west of the CBD lies Soccer City, unofficially the national stadium. It is the largest stadium in the country, seating around 90 000 spectators and host to the final of the 2010 soccer World Cup.
To the east lies the 62 000 seater Ellis Park Stadium, home of the Lions, Joburg's professional rugby team. Ellis Park was the venue for the historic 1995 Rugby World Cup final between the Springboks and New Zealand's All Blacks.
Slightly to the north ensconced in Johannesburg's vast parkland is the 32 000 seater Wanderers Stadium which is home to the Highveld Lions. It was the venue for the 2003 Cricket World Cup final.
- delve into Johannesburg's history as the most influential city in Africa
- Apartheid Museum
- Gold Reef City
- wonderful sporting venue and events
- loads of fantastic golf courses
- restaurants that will appeal to every taste imaginable
- visit Constitution Hill
- take a day trip into Soweto
- amble around the many markets in the city
- go to the top of the Carlton Centre for some fantastic views over the Johannesburg
Like its surrounding areas, Johannesburg owes its existence to the mining sector. Gold was discovered in 1886 and the idea of getting rich quick has endured as part of the city's allure.
Like everywhere else in the country the region was once racially segregated and the region was to become a hotbed of political activism. At the dawn of democracy large numbers of black South Africans previously banished from the city started to return as they sought reasonable proximity to their places of work. Many areas in and around the CBD became slums as it succumbed to urban decay.
At the dawn of the millennium urban renewal projects were launched which were aimed at not just arresting the area's decline, but the restoring it to its former glory. Today Newtown to the west and Maboneng to the east of the CBD are precincts that are glowing examples of the reversal of urban decay.
Johannesburg has always had a strong migrant worker community, not just countrymen seeking better opportunity but the region's pulling power is felt in many other parts of Africa. Johannesburg has been the gateway to the country and that reputation has been further enhanced since democracy came to the country in 1994.
Fellow Africans migrated south in large numbers, while immigrants from Asia and Europe - particularly eastern Europe - started moving to Johannesburg from the mid 1990s. Johannesburg has its own 'Chinatown' in Cyrildene to the east of the city, while Hillbrow is sometimes (un)affectionately known as 'Little Lagos'.
