About Johannesburg in South Africa

No matter what you call it, Joeys, Joni, eGoli, Joburg, Jozi, Jburg or JHB, Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. The city is located in the wealthiest province in the country, Gauteng. It is also the largest city in the world that is not located on a lake, river or coastline.

Even though Johannesburg isn't one of the country's three capital cities, it is the home of the Constitutional Court. The city sits on the Witwatersrand range, which provides a very lucrative trade in both gold and diamonds.

The city has a population of around 4.4 million people. But when suburbs such as Lenasia, West Rand, Ekurhuleni and Soweto is included, the population then sits at around 10.2 million.

Not only is the city a major economic hub for South Africa, but is also becoming more of an economic hub for all of Africa. It is estimated that Johannesburg makes up around 10% of the GDP for the country. But one of the key problems with the wealth of this city, is that it is far from distributed evenly throughout the city. Subsequently within the one city, you have living conditions that range from first world to third world.

The one thing you will notice about the city is just how green the city is. It is estimated that there are over six million trees in the urban area, making it potentially the largest man made urban forest.

The climate in Johannesburg is generally beautiful. During summer temperatures in the mid 30's Celsius can be expected, whilst in winter single digit figures can be expected.

The top attractions in Johannesburg include The Top of Africa, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Standard Bank Gallery, the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, The South African Museum of Rock Art, the Johannesburg Planetarium, the Military History Museum, the Apartheid Museum, the South African National Museum of Military History, the James Hall museum of Transport, Cherie De Villiers Gallery, the Mandela Family Museum, the Absa Money Museum, the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens, the Lion Park, the Montecasino Bird Gardens, Constitution Hill, the Lesedi Cultural Village, the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, the Old Kromdraai Gold Mine, Gold Reef City, Ferreira's Mine and the Workers Museum.