Johannesburg City Map Poster

About Johannesburg

The city was established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm. The first people to settle were the San, who built their huts around small hills called "kopjes" (meaning "little hills"). These huts were eventually expanded into shanty-towns or townships such as Alexandra and Soweto. Today, Johannesburg is mostly inhabited by South African blacks and coloureds with small populations of whites and Indians among others. It is currently undergoing urbanisation; new developments are extending beyond its traditional borders, especially along the northern corridor via Pretoria towards OR Tambo International Airport westwards into Randfontein & Roodepoort eastwards toward Witbank & Germiston . In addition it has seen increasing development since 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected president – most notably in terms of economic growth that has led to an exponential increase in property values within certain parts of Johannesburg's inner city areas like Sandton CBD , Rosebank , Parkhurst etc.