Pretoria
Pretoria is one of the three capital cities of the African country of South Africa. It is the executive (administrative) and de facto capital of the country. The other two capitals are Cape Town (legislative) and Bloemfontein (judicial). The city is in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa.
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 Location of Pretoria within South Africa | |
| Coordinates (Church Square): 25°44′46″S 28°11′17″E / 25.74611°S 28.18806°ECoordinates: 25°44′46″S 28°11′17″E / 25.74611°S 28.18806°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Gauteng |
| Metropolitan municipality | City of Tshwane |
| Established | 1855 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,644 km2 (635 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,271 m (4,170 ft) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2.1 million |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Geography and climate
Pretoria is between the Highveld and the Bushveld, about 50 km north of Johannesburg in the north-east of South Africa. It is in a warm, well sheltered valley. The valley is surrounded by the hills of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Pretoria has a humid subtropical climate (Cwa in the Köppen climate classification). Snow is a very rare event. It only snows in Pretoria once or twice in a century.
Demographics
The city has a population of about 1.9 million people. The main languages spoken in Pretoria include Tswana, Ndebele, Afrikaans, and English.
| Language | Population | % |
|---|---|---|
| Sepedi | 439 732 | 22.14% |
| Afrikaans | 422 866 | 21.29% |
| Setswana | 339 719 | 17.11% |
| Xitsonga | 198 441 | 9.99% |
| IsiZulu | 151 200 | 7.61% |
| English | 129 923 | 6.54% |
| IsiNdebele | 98 077 | 4.94% |
| Sesotho | 78 435 | 3.95% |
| SiSwati | 37 963 | 1.91% |
| IsiXhosa | 37 957 | 1.91% |
| Tshivenda | 35 242 | 1.77% |
| Other | 16 425 | 0.83% |
History
Nguni-speaking settlers were probably the first people to live in the river valley that later became the location of the city of Pretoria.
Pretoria was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Wessel Pretorius. He was a leader of the Voortrekkers. Pretoruis named the city after his father Andries Pretorius. Andries Pretorius had become a hero of the Voortrekkers after the Battle of Blood River. The city became the capital of the South African Republic (ZAR) on May 1, 1860.
During the First Boer War, the city was attacked in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty which ended the war was signed in Pretoria on August 3, 1881 at the Pretoria Convention.
The Second Boer War (1899 to 1902) caused the end of the South African Republic. After this war, the United Kingdom took control of South Africa. During the war, Winston Churchill was imprisoned in the Staats Model School in Pretoria. He later got free and went to Mozambique. The city surrendered to British forces on June 5, 1900. The war ended in Pretoria with the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging on May 31 1902.
In 1910, Pretoria then became the administrative capital of all of South Africa, with Cape Town the legislative capital. Between 1860 and 1994, the city was also the capital of the province of Transvaal. On 14 October 1931, Pretoria got official city status. When South Africa became a republic in 1961, Pretoria stayed its administrative capital.
Pretoria was at one time seen as "the capital of Apartheid South Africa". This was changed when Nelson Mandela became the country's first black President.
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Economy
Pretoria is an important industrial centre. It has many industries including iron and steel as well as automobile, railroad and machinery manufacture.
Places of interest
Union Buildings
National Botanical Gardens
Pretoria
Museums
- Kruger House (Residence of the president of the ZAR, Paul Kruger).
- Melrose House (The Treaty of Vereeniging which ended the Anglo-Boer War was signed here in 1902)
- Voortrekker Monument
- Freedom Park
- Transvaal Museum
- African Window
Nature Reserves
Stadiums
Pretoria Media
The Union Buildings, seat of South Africa's government
The city is surrounded by the Magaliesberg range.
Population density in and around Pretoria*- <1 /km²* 1–3 /km²* 3–10 /km²* 10–30 /km²* 30–100 /km²* 100–300 /km²* 300–1000 /km²* 1000–3000 /km²* >3000 /km²*
The Central Business District
A street lined with jacarandas in Pretoria, with the Union Buildings atop Meintjieskop in the background
A random street from Pretoria / Southafrica.*I have taken this picture myself in January 2005.
Gautrain inside the Midrand depot. Neutral tone adjusted.
The Blue Train traveeling from Pretoria to Cape Town passes through the Karoo