JOHANNESBURG, yo-hinines-boorg or j6-han'ns-berg, South Africa, the most populous city and the commercial metropolis of South Africa, situated 5,735 feet above the sea, about 30 miles southwest of Pretoria, in the Transvaal, with which and with Delagoa Bay 364 miles, Durban 483 miles, East London 659 miles, Port Elizabeth 715 miles and Cape Town 957 miles, it is in railway communication. It is the recognized business centre of the rich gold fields of the Witwatersrand. In 1886 it was represented by a few shanties, but the discovery of gold and the development of gold mining has made it within a comparatively few years the most important city in South Africa. Municipal government was conferred upon the city by the Transvaal authorities in 1896, when the population within a three-mile radius was 102,078, of whom 50,907 were whites, 67 per cent of these being of British origin, while the Boer citizens numbered 6,205. The great Uit lander agitation, which culminated in the Trans vaal War (1899-1902) centred in Johannesburg, which was occupied by Lord Roberts in 1900.
Since the close of the war, important public im provements have been carried through. These include many miles of well-paved streets, an elaborate electric car system, new waterworks and a sanitation system. Mementoes of the former Boer rule are an imposing but dis mantled fortress which dominates the town, and the monument near Krugersdorp which com memorates the declaration of Boer independ ence in 1880. The town is lighted by electricity.
The international peace exhibition of South Africa, held at Johannesburg in 1904-05, when the inhabitants numbered 158,580, fully re habilitated commercial interests, and it was then predicted that within six years Johannesburg would have a population of 200,000. It has bettered that number. Pop. 237.104, of which 119,953 are Europeans, and 117,151 natives.