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JOHANNESBURG

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 432 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JOHANNESBURG , a See also:

city of the See also:Transvaal and the centre of the See also:Rand See also:gold-See also:mining See also:industry. It is the most populous city and the commercial See also:capital of See also:South See also:Africa. It is built on the See also:southern slopes of the Witwatersrand in 26° 11' S. 28° 2' E., at an See also:elevation of 5764 ft. above the See also:sea. The distances by See also:rail from Johannesburg to the following seaports are: Louren90 Marques, 364 m.; See also:Durban, 483 m.; See also:East See also:London, 6S9 M.; See also:Port See also:Elizabeth, 714 m.; Cape See also:Town, 957 M. See also:Pretoria is, by rail, 46 m. N. by E. The town lies immediately See also:north of the central See also:part of the See also:main gold See also:reef. The streets run in straight lines east and See also:west or north and south. The See also:chief open spaces are See also:Market Square in the west and See also:Government Square in the south of the town. See also:Park railway station lies north of the business See also:quarter, and farther north are the Wanderers' athletic See also:sports ground and See also:Joubert's Park. The chief business streets, such as See also:Commissioner See also:Street, Market Street, See also:President Street and See also:Pritchard Street, run east and west.

In these thoroughfares and in several of the streets which intersect them are the offices of the mining companies, the See also:

banks, clubs, newspaper offices, hotels and shops, the See also:majority being handsome See also:stone or See also:brick buildings, while the survival of some wooden shanties and corrugated See also:iron buildings recalls the See also:early See also:character of the town. Chief Buildings, &c.—In the centre of Market Square are the market buildings, and at its east end the See also:post and See also:telegraph See also:free but not compulsory. The Transvaal university See also:college, founded in 1904 as the technical See also:institute (the See also:change of See also:title being made in 1906), provides full courses in See also:science, mining, See also:engineering and See also:law. In 1906 See also:Alfred See also:Beit (q.v.) bequeathed £200,000 towards the cost of erecting and equipping university buildings. In its social See also:life Johannesburg differs widely from Cape Town and Durban. The See also:white See also:population is not only far larger but more See also:cosmopolitan, less stationary and more dependent on a single industry; it has few links with the past, and both city and citizens See also:bear the marks of youth. The cost of living is much higher than in London or New See also:York. See also:House See also:rent, provisions, clothing, are all very dear, and more than counterbalance the lowness of rates. The customary unit of See also:expenditure is the threepenny-See also:bit or " tickey." Sanitary and other Services.—T here is an ample See also:supply of See also:water to the town and mines, under a water See also:board representing all the Rand municipalities and the mining companies. A water-See also:borne See also:sewerage See also:system began to be introduced in r906. The See also:general illuminant is See also:electricity, and both See also:electrical and See also:gas services are owned by the See also:municipality. The See also:tramway service, opened in 1891, was taken over by the municipality in 1904.

Up to 1906 the trams were See also:

horse-See also:drawn; in that See also:year electric cars began See also:running. Rickshaws are also a favourite means of See also:conveyance. The See also:police force is controlled by the government. See also:Area, Government and Rateable Value.—The city proper covers about 6 sq. m. The municipal boundary extends in every direction some 5 M. from Market Square, encloses about 82 sq. m. and includes several of the largest mines. The See also:local government is carried on by an elected municipal See also:council, the See also:franchise being restricted to white See also:British subjects (men and See also:women) who rent or own See also:property of a certain value. In 1908 the rateable value of the municipality was £36,466,644, the See also:rate 21d. in the £, and the town See also:debt £5,500,000. Population.—In 1887 the population was about 3000. By the beginning of 1890 it had increased to over 25,000. A See also:census taken in See also:July 1896 showed a population within a See also:radius of 3 M. from Market Square of 102,078, of whom 50,907 were whites. At the census of See also:April 1904 the inhabitants of the city proper numbered 99,022, the population within the municipal area being 155,642, of whom 83,363 were whites. Of the white inhabitants, 35 % were of British origin, 51,629 were See also:males, and 31,734 See also:females.

Of persons aged sixteen or over, the number of males was almost See also:

double the number of females. The coloured population included about 7000 British See also:Indians—chiefly small traders. A municipal census taken in See also:August 19o8 gave the following result: whites 95,162; natives and coloured 78,781; Asiatics 678o—See also:total 180,687. See also:History.—Johannesburg owes its existence to the See also:discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand reefs. The town, named after Johannes Rissik, then surveyor-general of the Transvaal, was founded in See also:September 1886, the first buildings being erected on the part of the reef where are now the See also:Ferreira and Wemmer mines. These buildings were found to See also:cover valuable ore, and in See also:December following the See also:Boer government marked out the site of the city proper, and See also:possession of the plots was given to purchasers on the 1st of See also:January 1887. The exploitation of the mines led to a rapid development of the town during the next three years. The year 1890 was one of See also:great depression following the exhaustion of the See also:surface ore, but the See also:provision of better machinery and cheaper See also:coal led to a revival in 1891. By 1892 the leading mines had proved their See also:dividend-earning capacity, and in 1895 there was a great " See also:boom " in the shares of the mining companies. The linking of the town to the seaports by See also:railways during 1892–1895 gave considerable impetus to the gold-mining industry. Material prosperity was accompanied, how-ever, by See also:political, educational and other disadvantages, and the See also:desire of the Johannesburgers—most of whom were foreigners or " Uitlanders "—to remedy the grievances under which they suffered led, in January 1896, to an abortive rising against the Boer government (see TRANSVAAL: History). One result of this See also:movement was a slight advance in municipal self-government.

Since 1887 the management of the town had been entrusted to a nominated sanitary board, under the chairmanship of the mining commissioner appointed by the South See also:

African See also:Republic. In 1890 elected members had been admitted to this board, but at the end of 1897 an elective sladsraad (town council) was constituted, though its functions were strictly limited. There was a great development in the mining industry during 1897–1898 and 1899, the, value of the gold extracted in 1898 exceeding £15,000,000, but the political situation See also:grew worse, and in September 1899, owing to the imminence of See also:war between the Transvaal and Great See also:Britain, the majority of the Uitlanders fled from the city. Between See also:October 1899, when war See also:broke out, and the 31st of May 1900, when the city was taken by the British, the Boer government worked certain mines for their own benefit. After a See also:period of military See also:administration and of government by a nominated town council, an See also:ordinance was passed in See also:June 1903 providing for elective municipal See also:councils, and in December following the first See also:election to the new council took See also:place. In 1905 the town was divided into wards. In that year the number of municipal voters was 23,338. In 1909 the proportional See also:representation system was adopted in the election of town councillors. During 1901–1903, while the war was still in progress or but recently concluded, the gold output was comparatively slight. The difficulty in obtaining sufficient labour for the mines led to a successful agitation for the importation of coolies from See also:China (see TRANSVAAL: History). During 1904–1906 over 50,000 coolies were 'brought to the mines, a greatly increased output being the result, the value of the gold extracted in 1905 exceeding £20,000,000. Notwithstanding the increased See also:production of gold, Johannesburg during 1905–1907 passed through a period of severe commercial depression, the result in part of the unsettled political situation.

In June 1907 the repatriation of the See also:

Chinese coolies began; it was completed in See also:February 1910. An excellent compilation, entitled Johannesburg See also:Statistics, dealing with almost every phase of the city's life, is issued monthly (since January 1905) by the town council. See also the Post See also:Office See also:Directory, Transvaal (Johannesburg, annually), which contains specially prepared maps, and the See also:annual reports of the Johannesburg chamber of See also:commerce. For the political history of Johannesburg, see the bibliography under TRANSVAAL.

End of Article: JOHANNESBURG

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