Johannesburg
With a population of 1.48 million at the 1996 census (or 5 mill. for the greater metropolitan area), it is one of the largest cities in the world that is neither on the coast nor on a major river or waterway (two other such cities are Mexico City and Phoenix). The demarcation of new municipal boundaries, which took effect in 2000, saw the city population officially rise to around 3 million, including former satellite towns of Sandton, Randburg, Roodepoort and Soweto.
The metropolitan area population for the city is now estimated at 6.2 million (based on projections for 2004 from the 1996 and 2001 census figures), while Thomas Brinkhoff (www.citypopulation.de) puts the urban agglomeration population at 7.75 million. This would make it the fifth-largest metropolitan area if it were in the United States, after New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington-Baltimore. These figures exclude Pretoria and the Vaal Triangle, which together with the Johannesburg conurbation form the heart of Gauteng and could be classified as Africa's second megalopolis after Cairo-Alexandria.
The fact that Johannesburg is not built near a large navigable body of water means that road transport has become essential. The city is largely dependent on massive road infrastructure for moving people around, with numerous multi-lane freeways that speed cars around the metropolitan area. Its relatively dry landscape has not stopped local residents and the city council from planting an abundance of trees, and the city prides itself on being the city in the world with the largest number of planted trees - 6 million - which has created an artificial rainforest-like atmosphere, especially in the lush northern suburbs. This area is also home to the local zoo and a host of small dams, such as Zoo Lake and the Emmarentia Dam, a popular spot for the city's rowing fans who ply the waters in true Oxford/Cambridge style.
Johannesburg currently holds the record for the tallest building in Africa, the Carlton Centre, which is 222 metres tall, half the height of the Sears Tower in Chicago. A new skyscraper is being built in Sandton, which will be 140 metres tall and will open in 2005 (www.skyscraperpage.com). The city also has some of the largest shopping centres in South Africa, including Sandton City and Eastgate, both well in excess of 1 million ftÃÂò.
Johannesburg is a dichotomy of wealth and poverty, of opulent First World and derelict Third World. Sometimes referred to as the New York of Africa, the city is a magnet for people from all over Africa who seek to carve out their own fortunes. Although not the largest city in Africa, it has by far the largest urban sprawl of any African city and is generally regarded as Africa's wealthiest city.
Johannesburg is located on the Continental Divide of Africa – a drop of rain falling on the crest of Pretoria Avenue in Hillbrow will find itself either flowing east to the Indian Ocean or west to the Atlantic Ocean.
Johannesburg viewed from the 
Johannesburg was founded after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, and grew within a decade to a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants. Although the city's own mines have long since been abandoned as ores ran out and new deposits were found elsewhere, it is still known in the Zulu language as eGoli, that is, the "place of gold". The "gold crescent" (roughly 120km long by 25km wide) around which Johannesburg grew is the source of more than half the mined gold in the world today. The mines produced tall "mine dumps" or man made mountains. These are what remains from the ore removed from the mines after the gold was extracted. The earlier of these mine dumps still contain some gold. The mine dumps have been "re-mined" to extract further gold through modern more efficient recovery techniques. A lobby formed to prevent the loss of the last of Johannesburg's mine dumps as these are part of the city's character.
Although it was a prosperous city throughout the 20th century, in the 1990s Johannesburg was affected by urban blight, as millions of poor, mostly black, people who had been kept out artificially by the policy of Apartheid, moved into the city from surrounding black townships such as Soweto. Crime levels soared and non-payment of rent led to apartment buildings being abandoned by landlords, especially in the high-density areas such as Hillbrow. Many leading corporations and institutions, including the JSE Securities Exchange (formerly the Johannesburg Stock Exchange), moved their headquarters to the northern suburb of Sandton. Reviving the city centre is one of the main aims of the municipal government of Johannesburg.
Johannesburg has an airport called Johannesburg International Airport, previously Jan Smuts International after Field Marshal Jan Smuts, soldier, politician, prime minister and statesman.
It is not known for certain who the "Johannes" (Afrikaans for "John") was after whom the city was named. Several candidates have been put forward over the years.
On March 28, 1994 Inkatha Freedom Party supporters (mainly Zulus) and African National Congress supporters battled in central Johannesburg killing 18.