Jozi
Johannesburg ( joh-HAN-iss-burg, US also -HAHN-, Afrikaans: [jʊəˈɦanəsbœrχ] ; Xhosa: eGoli [ɛˈɡɔːli]; Zulu: iGoli [îˈɡóːli]), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "the City of Gold", is the capital city of the province of Gauteng and the largest city in South Africa. In 2022 (the year of the most recent census), the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality had a population of 4,803,262, and the wider metropolitan area a population of 15,099,422, making it one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. It is also the seat of the country's highest court, the Constitutional Court. Situated on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand, the city has long been at the epicentre of the international mineral and gold trade. The richest city in Africa by GDP and private wealth, Johannesburg functions as the economic capital of South Africa and is home to the continent's largest stock exchange, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Johannesburg was established in 1886, following the discovery of gold, on what was once farmland. Within a decade, the population surged to over 100,000, driven by the large gold deposits found along the Witwatersrand. Modern Johannesburg is an amalgamation of formerly separate cities, townships and settlements, reflecting apartheid-era spatial segregation policies. Soweto ("South-Western Townships"), designated a "blacks only" city until 1994, is one of the most historically significant areas for modern South Africa. Home to key anti-apartheid leaders, including Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, it became the epicenter of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, where peaceful student protests were met with brutal force. In contrast, Lenasia is predominantly populated by English-speaking Indo-South Africans (people of Indian and South Asian descent). Formerly "white-only" areas include Sandton, known as "Africa's richest square-mile", Randburg and Roodeport.
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