Gauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Johannesburg. Gauteng was formed from part of the province of Transvaal after the first elections, including the black majority on 27 April 1994. Originally, it was the new province of the name Pretoria - Witwatersrand - Vereeniging ( PWV ). In December 1994 the name was changed in Gauteng.
Name
The word comes from the Gauteng Southern Sotho word meaning " Place of Gold ". The name refers to the former importance of the area in gold mining.
Geography
Gauteng has an area of about 18,000 km ². This represents about 1.5% of the land area of South Africa. Gauteng, making it the smallest area of province of South Africa. The province, however, is densely populated. 2011 there lived about 12.3 million people, almost a quarter of the entire population of South Africa. Gauteng is the province with the highest population growth. Alone between 1996 and 2001, the number of residents increased by more than 20%. By continuing population growth has Gauteng KwaZulu -Natal replaced as the most populous province.
Despite its small size, Gauteng is the economic center of South Africa; here 34 % of the South African and 10% of gross domestic product is generated from the whole of Africa.
Structure
The province is divided into three townships and two districts since May 2011:
- City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality ( with Johannesburg, Sandton and Soweto )
- City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality ( with the capital Pretoria)
- Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (including the major city of Germiston )
- Sedibeng with the municipalities of Emfuleni, Lesedi and Midvaal
- Western edge with the communities Randfontein, Westonaria, Merafong City and Mogale City
Attractions (selection)
- In Gauteng, the nearly 50,000 -acre, Cradle of Humankind ( Cradle of Humankind ) is called World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
- Meteorite crater of Tswaing
- Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve
- Wonder Cave