Johannesburg
Global City
General Information
Other Name: -, , State: Gauteng, South Africa
Area: 1644.96 km²
Languages Spoken: -
Long Distance Code: +27
Importance: -
Best Time to Visit: - to - and -
International Access: -Description
Johannesburg is the largest and most populous city in South Africa. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa. The city is one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world and it is one of Africa's only two global cities.Johannesburg is the source of a large-scale gold and diamond trade, due to its location on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills.Johannesburg's largest shopping centre is Sandton City, while Hyde Park is one of its most prestigious.All Nations" in Zulu language, indicating that the centre will cater to the city's diverse mix of peoples and races. most international visitors to South Africa pass through Johannesburg at least once, which has led to the development of more attractions for tourists. Recent additions have centred around history museums, such as the Apartheid Museum and the Hector Pieterson Museum. Gold Reef City, a large amusement park to the south of the Central Business District, is also a large draw for tourists in the city. The Johannesburg Zoo is also one of the largest in South Africa.Location
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The Apartheid Museum is the story of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Beginning in 1948, the white elected National Party government initiated a process which turned over 20 million people into 2nd class citizens, damning them to a life of servitude, humiliation and abuse. Whoever you are, you cannot but come away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of this country, its darkest days and its brightest triumphs. The Apartheid Museum, the first of its kind, illustrates the rise and fall of apartheid: The racially prejudiced system that blighted much of its progress and the triumph of reason which crowned half a century of struggle. The Museum has been assembled and organized by a multi-disciplinary team of curators, film-makers, historians and designers. An architectural consortium comprising several leading architectural firms, conceptualized the design of the museum on a seven-hectare site. The museum is a superb example of design, space and landscape offering the international community a unique South African experience. A series of 22 individual exhibition areas takes the visitor through a dramatic emotional journey that tells a story of a state sanctioned system based solely on racial discrimination. For anyone wanting to understand and experience what South Africa was really like, a visit to the Apartheid Museum is fundamental. The museum is a beacon of hope showing the world how South Africa is coming to terms with the past and working towards a future that all South African's can call their own.
Nowhere can the story of South Africa’s turbulent past and its extraordinary transition to democracy be told as it is at Constitution Hill. This national heritage site has witnessed a century of South Africa’s history. From rebellious British soldiers who fought with the Boers at the turn of the century, to the youths caught up in the Soweto Uprising, to the dawn of democracy and the building of South Africa’s new Constitutional Court, Constitution Hill has witnessed it all. Visit Constitution Hill and learn about the injustices of South Africa’s past while observing the process by which freedom was won and is now protected. Exhibitions and guided tours have been designed as an interactive experience, offering visitors the opportunity to participate in the building of Constitution Hill.The Constitutional Court of South Africa is Johannesburg’s newest historical landmark and a unique architectural symbol of South Africa’s democracy. On this site, once the Old Fort Prison Complex, commonly known as Number Four, political prisoners and common criminals awaited trial and sat out their jail sentences. Today, the elegant Constitutional Court presides over this once-reviled place and stands as a proud monument to South Africa’s hard-earned freedom.Visit Constitution Hill and experience the unique way that the South African transition has built hope for the future out of the pain of the past. Constitution Hill’s public participation programme, We the People, has begun the long process of inviting ex-prisoners and warders back on to site to participate in research-based workshops. The images, sounds and voices recorded in these workshops have recreated the tenor of prison life, revealing individual stories and experiences that form the basis of the exhibitions and tours. Objects, photographs and memories give a sense of how power and punishment were inflicted on the minds and bodies of prisoners and demonstrate the efforts that men and women made to overcome prison conditions.
View the landscape of Johannesburg from the 50th floor of the tallest building in Africa. This is an ideal orientation experience for visitors, contrasting the old and the new parts of this metropolis. Originally a mining town, "Jo'burg" is characterized by the ever-present mine dumps that look like hills and add to the city's distinct silhouette. A valuable educational outing for children, a visit here demonstrates the structure of a city and its evolution through the years.
Gold Reef City is a huge and very popular entertainment complex made up of a theme park and casino facilities.At Gold Reef City you will find experiences that you would not find anywhere else - it's a combination of fun, fantasy, historical fact all in a safe environment with great parking facilities.The casino at Gold Reef City' is open 24 hours a day and offers an energetic atmosphere, highly trained staff and an abundance of gaming choices. The arena caters for everybody's gaming tastes with slots, tables, sports betting, Salon Privé for the high rollers and more.Gold Reef Cities appeal is broad. International travellers savour the offering of traditional African music, dance and history found throughout the complex. The carefully-documented history of Apartheid, chillingly yet beautifully depicted in the Museum, is a must-see on a South African visit.Even those in suits can appreciate the City Without Limits. Countless companies have chosen Gold Reef City to host conferences or other serious events. And, depending on the programme, the workers simply walk to the fun when the work is done. Gold Reef City has become a strong, well-known and visible brand that promises "more winners in more ways.
The Johannesburg Zoo is a favourite place for locals to take a stroll among the numerous enclosures that house more than 3,000 species of animal, including polar bears that can be viewed underwater in their pool. Of course the Big Five are all in residence too. A tractor-tram does circuits of the zoo for those who don’t fancy walking. On the eastern edge of the zoo is the Museum of Military History, which has some interesting exhibits like tanks, fighter aircraft and submarines.
Featuring four prides of lions, of various ages, this small game area also boasts a number of rhino as well as other herbivores. The lions are enclosed in a high-security area while the greater park area is given over to the other animals. For the adventurous, photographs with lion cubs are permitted under supervision. A restaurant and curio shop is situated in shady surrounds. Picnic facilities are also available. These areas are clearly demarcated and nature conservation officers are always at hand.
The Market Theatre complex housed in a converted market building, plays a major part in Johannesburg's cultural life. It has four live theater venues on which some of the finest productions in South Africa are presented. The musical "Sarafina", which later became a Broadway success, had its first performance here.The complex also includes a bookshop, an art and photographic gallery and restaurants.Kippie's is a popular rendezvous, with music by well-known jazz groups in the evenings.
The largest cable-stayed bridge in South Africa, the 284 metre long Nelson Mandela Bridge, starts virtually at the end of Jan Smuts Avenue and links the Constitutional Hill precinct in Braamfontein to the Cultural precinct in Newtown, in the heart of the city’s inner city renewal project.The Nelson Mandela Bridge, officially opened by Nelson Mandela himself, cost R38-million and took two years of construction to cross over the 40 railway lines that lie spread beneath its span.t night the bridge is a magical beacon that lights the sky, its imposing span dominating the horizon in amongst the city skyscrapers and viewed from the M1 highway by countless South Africans and visitors alike.
A Jo'burg favorite, this planetarium has various cosmological programs that have been recommended by locals and travellers alike. If you're seeking more earthbound displays, arrange to tour 12 museum collections in the university, including collections of African art, anthropology, geology, palaeontology, music and zoology.
Sterkfontein is one of the world's most productive and important paleo-anthropological sites. The Sterkfontein stalactitic caves, consist of six linked underground chambers, with a lake at a depth of 40m/130ft. After their discovery in 1896 the caves were at first used as a limestone quarry, destroying many stalactites and stalagmites.In 1936 two students discovered fragments of a baboon's skull in the caves, and thereafter archaeological excavations began, continuing until 1951. These brought to light, along with numerous other bones, the skull of a humanoid creature known as Australopithecus africanus, estimated to be 2 million years old found by Dr Robert Broom in 1947 and dubbed Mrs Ples. In 1998, scientists discovered a skeleton which dates the presence of early mankind in the valley at 3.5 million years ago.Unesco has declared the Sterkfontein Caves and the Cradle of Humankind area in which it sits, a World Heritage Site.