Johannesburg

Introduction
Physical and human geography
- The landscape
  - The city site
  - Climate
  - The city layout
- The people
- The economy
  - Commerce and industry
  - Transportation
- Administration and social conditions
  - Government
  - Public services
  - Health
  - Education
- Cultural life
History
- The early period, 1853–1930
  - Boomtown
  - Consolidation of the gold industry
  - The national and international context
  - The local level
    - Racist enactments
    - Black protests
    - Challenge by white workers
- The transformations of the 1930s and ’40s
- Apartheid
  - Enforcing the system
  - Apartheid’s demise

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa

Map of colonial southern Africa from 1884 to 1905, using color codes to show territories controlled by Britain, Portugal, and Germany at different times. The map highlights British-controlled areas in orange, Portuguese-controlled areas in purple, German-controlled areas in green, and disputed regions in red, with boundaries and key colonial regions labeled. Major features include German South West Africa, German East Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Colony, and the Orange Free State.

At a Glance

Johannesburg summary

Quizzes

Tower Bridge over the Thames River in London, England. Opened in 1894. Remains an Important Traffic Route with 40,000 Crossings Every Day.

Guess the City by Its River Quiz

Related Questions

How did Black South Africans protest discriminatory laws in Johannesburg during the early 1900s?
How did apartheid shape the locations of Soweto, Alexandra, and Lenasia?
How did deep-level mining change the organization of Johannesburg’s gold industry?
How did the 1911 Mines and Works Act create a job colour bar in South African mining?
How did the 1994 democratic election change Johannesburg’s government?
How did the African National Congress Youth League develop in Johannesburg?
How did the Chamber of Mines help mining companies control production costs?
How did the Group Areas Act of 1950 reshape Johannesburg’s neighbourhoods?
How did the Jameson Raid relate to tensions over the Transvaal goldfields?
How did the Rand Revolt of 1922 end?
How did the gold industry affect immigration and urbanization in South Africa?
How did wages and working conditions differ between white and Black mineworkers?
How does the Witwatersrand form a watershed between major river systems?
How quickly did Johannesburg’s population grow during the 1890s gold rush?
What caused the 1920 strike by Black mineworkers in Johannesburg?
What caused the Rand Revolt of 1922 in Johannesburg?
What caused the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976?
What evidence of gold mining remains in Johannesburg’s landscape?
When was Johannesburg founded after the discovery of gold?
When was the Johannesburg Stock Exchange founded and why was it created?
Where is Johannesburg located on the Highveld and the Witwatersrand?
Which cultural institutions and museums help preserve Johannesburg’s history?
Which groups of workers and fortune seekers migrated to Johannesburg during the gold boom?
Who discovered the gold outcropping at Langlaagte in 1886?
Who were the Randlords of Johannesburg’s gold-mining industry?
Why did mining companies seek to keep Black labour costs low in Johannesburg?
Why did the British government demand voting rights for foreign miners in the Transvaal?
Why did the South African government suspend influx control during World War II?
Why did the discovery of the Witwatersrand Main Reef lead to Johannesburg’s rapid growth?
Why did township protests erupt again around Johannesburg in 1984?
Why was Sophiatown removed under apartheid?
Why were Black migrant mineworkers housed in compounds near Johannesburg’s mines?
Why were Black residents forcibly moved from central Johannesburg to Klipspruit in 1904?
Why were Chinese indentured labourers brought to the Witwatersrand mines?
Why were the gold deposits of the Witwatersrand difficult and expensive to mine?
What was the purpose of the Group Areas Act?
How was the Group Areas Act administered?
Where is the Cape of Good Hope located?
Who was the first European to sight the Cape of Good Hope?
Why was the Cape of Good Hope strategically important?
Is the Cape of Good Hope the southernmost point in Africa?
How were racial classifications determined under the Population Registration Act?
What were the consequences of the racial classifications under the Population Registration Act?
What was the legacy of the Population Registration Act?
What was the Sharpeville massacre?

Geography & Travel Cities & Towns Cities & Towns H-L

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External Websites

Jewish Virtual Library - Johannesburg, South Africa
CRW Flags - Flag of Johannesburg, South Africa
South African History Online - Johannesburg
Official Site of the City of Johannesburg, South Africa

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Johannesburg - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
Johannesburg - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Johannesburg

South Africa

Written by

James T. Campbell

Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Author of Songs of Zion: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and South Africa.

James T. Campbell

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 13, 2026 •History

Johannesburg, city, Gauteng province, South Africa. It is the country’s chief industrial and financial metropolis. One of the youngest of the world’s major cities, Johannesburg was founded in 1886, following the discovery of gold. The city was initially part of the Transvaal, an independent Afrikaner, or Boer, republic that later became one of the four provinces of South Africa. Today the city is a part of Gauteng (a Sotho word meaning “Place of Gold”), one...

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