President Street Synagogue

Johannesburg ( joh-HAN-iss-burg, US also -⁠HAHN-, Afrikaans: [jʊəˈɦanəsbœrχ]; Zulu and Xhosa: eGoli [ɛˈɡɔːli]) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa with 4,803,262 people, and is classified as a megacity; it is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral, gold and (specifically) diamond trade. Johannesburg was established in 1886, following the discovery of gold, on what had been a farm. Due to the extremely large gold deposits found along the Witwatersrand, within ten years, the population had grown to over 100,000 inhabitants. A separate city from the late 1970s until 1994, Soweto is now part of the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area. An acronym for "South-Western Townships", Soweto was organised initially as a collection of nondescript settlements on the outskirts of the city, populated mostly by African labourers working in the gold mining industry. Soweto, although eventually incorporated into Johannesburg, had been explicitly separated as a residential area for blacks only—no whites allowed—who were not permitted to live in other "white-designated" areas of Johannesburg. Another region, Lenasia, is predominantly populated by English-speaking Indo-South Africans (people of Indian and South Asian descent). These areas were, in previous decades, designated as non-white areas, in accordance with the segregationist policies of the time—known as apartheid. It would go on to be one of the host cities of the official tournament of the 2010 FIFA World Cup—and it hosted the final. The metropolis is an alpha global city, as listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. In 2019, the population of the city of Johannesburg was 5 635 127, making it the most populous city in South Africa. In the same year, the population of metro Johannesburg's urban agglomeration was put at 8 000 000. Land area of the municipal city (1,645 km2 or 635 sq mi) is large in comparison with those of other major cities, resulting in a moderate population density of 2,364 per square kilometre (6,120/sq mi).

The Kine Centre is a modern style skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1974 to a height of 123 metres. The building has 25 floors of office space, several large stores, a 10-screen cinema complex that seats 2500 people which is now mothballed, and two levels of underground parking. The building also has a famous penthouse located on the top floor. The Kine Centre is connected to the Carlton Centre via a pedestrian tunnel. The building was sold for Rand 9.1 million (USD $910,000) in February 2003.

The Cuthberts Building is a Victorian style building found in the city of Johannesburg. The building was designed by architects Stucke & Bannister. Construction of the building began in 1903 and completed in 1904. It rapidly became a major landmark in the mining town and was declared a National Monument on 27 June 1986.

The Arop House is a building in Von Brandis & Kerk Street, Johannesburg, South Africa. Construction commenced in 1931 and completed in 1932 by Hermann Kallenbach, a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, along with his partners Kennedy and Furner. The building is characterized by balconies with steel balusterades and its name was inspired by a Soviet petroleum company with the same name As of 2014, the building is in a dilapidated state.

The Johannesburg Sun Hotel is an abandoned twin-tower skyscraper hotel in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a 56-kilometre-long (35 mi), north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning "white water ridge" in Afrikaans. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview (about 10 km [6 mi] west of O.R. Tambo International Airport) in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west (see the diagram at left below).The scarp forms the northern edge of a 7-to-10-kilometre-wide (4–6 mi) plateau (or ridge) which rises about 200 m (660 ft) above the surrounding plains of the Highveld. A number of picturesque Johannesburg suburbs, including Observatory, Linksfield Ridge and Upper Houghton are located along the scarp, overlooking the rest of northern Johannesburg with views up to the Magaliesburg (although locals refer to segments of the scarp using area-specific names, such as Linksfield Ridge, Parktown Ridge or Observatory Ridge). The entire plateau-like structure is also often called the Witwatersrand. The plateau's elevation above sea-level is between 1,700 and 1,800 metres (5,600–5,900 ft). The Witwatersrand plateau forms a continental divide, with the run-off to the north draining into the Indian Ocean via the Crocodile and Limpopo rivers, while the run-off to the south drains via the Vaal into the Orange River and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.Because of the extraordinary quantities of gold that have been extracted from the Witwatersrand rocks, the South African currency was named the rand in 1961 upon the declaration of the republic. Witwatersrand and the Rand are names for the conurbation that developed along the range, although the terms are falling into disuse and Witwatersrand was the "W" in PWV (Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging), the initial name of Gauteng province. In this context, it has lent its name to institutions including the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) and the defunct Rand Afrikaans University (RAU, now part of the University of Johannesburg), and to towns and regions such as the East Rand, West Rand and Randburg.

The Carlton Centre is a 50-storey skyscraper and shopping centre located on Commissioner Street in central Johannesburg, South Africa. At 223 metres (732 ft), it is the third tallest building in Africa after The Leonardo, also in Johannesburg, and the Iconic Tower in Egypt. The foundations of the two buildings in the complex are 5 m (16 ft) in diameter and extend 15 m (49 ft) down to the bedrock, 35 m (115 ft) below street level. The building houses both offices and shops, and has over 46 per cent of the floor area below ground level. The Carlton Centre is linked to the Carlton Hotel by a below-ground shopping centre with over 180 shops.

Trust Bank Building is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1970 to a height of 140 metres. The building is the former head office of Trust Bank of South Africa, and as such has one of the largest bank vaults in South Africa. The building was sold in February 2003 for Rand 6.4 million (USD $640,000). Like most skyscrapers in Johannesburg the height is 140m which is the same height as KwaDukuza eGoli Hotel, Michelangelo Towers, ABSA Tower and Standard Bank Centre which are all 140m tall.

The Carlton Hotel is a historic hotel in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It opened in 1972 as part of the enormous Carlton Centre complex, and has been closed since 1998. Its closure has been attributed to the decay of the Central Business District, resulting in a severe crime wave and the flight of the city's corporate offices north to areas like Sandton and Rosebank. This created a plethora of vacant rooms that were unable to be filled. The main hotel tower was closed in December 1997.

The Marble Towers is a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built in 1973 and is 32 storeys tall. The building has an eight-storey parking garage attached to it. The structure is made out of a mixture of concrete and marble. The tower is in use as commercial offices. The building was originally known as the Sanlam Centre. It is located on the corner of Jeppe and Von Wielligh Streets.

The Kimberley house at 44 Pritchard street is Victorian style and one of the oldest buildings in the city of Johannesburg. The building was constructed in 1892 by the architect Chris J Olley and the owners of the building ran a shop for various kinds of fashion wares. With limited resources at their disposal, the builders used oxen to fetch material ordered from England to Johannesburg.

The Trades Hall is one of the oldest Edwardian buildings in the city of Johannesburg. Beyond its architectural importance, the building has historical significance as the previous headquarters of the Trade Unions. It is associated with many historical events such as the 1922 Rand Revolt. In 1986 it was listed as one of Johannesburg's 100 most important heritage buildings.