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REGIONS<br />
CITY OF JOHANNESBURG<br />
Johannesburg Metropolitan Tourism Association, Village Walk, Upper Level, U57,<br />
Corner Maude and Rivonia Roads, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2001.<br />
Tel: +27 (0) 11 883 4033 / 784 1354<br />
Fax: +27 (0) 11 883 4035<br />
E-mail: marketing@tourismjohannesburg.co.za<br />
Website: http://www.tourismjohannesburg.co.za<br />
The larger Johannesburg Metropolitan Area is also known as the Witwatersrand (“Ridge of<br />
White Waters”). It is this area in which the main gold reserves, the lifeblood of the province,<br />
are found. More than 5 million people live in an area no more than 60 km in diameter and any<br />
destination in the province can be reached within three hours from this area. The skyline is<br />
outlined by skyscrapers, mine dumps from the gold mines and smoking chimneys, testimony<br />
to the changes that economic progress brought to the land.<br />
If South Africa is a “World in One Country”, then Johannesburg Metro is a “Country in One<br />
City”. A sprawling metropolis, Johannesburg encompasses many suburbs and urban<br />
developments. Although these developments are so close together that they seem to be one,<br />
they are indeed cities in their own right. These cities are Alexandra, Johannesburg,<br />
Randburg, Sandton and Soweto.<br />
The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand had such a significant impact upon the economic<br />
development of South Africa that the country’s unit of currency, the Rand, was named after it.<br />
When gold was discovered, all eyes turned to this small area and many people came here,<br />
believing that they could make their fortunes. As more and more miners came to the area, a<br />
town grew to meet their needs and, in time, the city of Johannesburg rose from the gold dust.<br />
Politics would play an increasingly important role in shaping the destiny of the people who<br />
came to call this place home. The Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902 was fought between the<br />
Boer Republics who did not want to give up their independence and the British who wanted to<br />
unite South Africa under the British umbrella again. On 31 May 1902, a peace treaty was<br />
signed and although the Afrikaners lost, the conditions of the treaty were favourable to them.<br />
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