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Pretoria

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Geography

                                                         CAPTION: Pretoria


                                           Flag of Pretoria Pretoria: Seal
                                           ( In detail)      ( In detail)

              City motto: Praestantia Praevaleat Pretoria (May Pretoria Be
                                                Pre-eminent In Excellence)
                                                          Province Gauteng
                                                                      Area
                                                      - % water 1,644 km²
                                                                     0.00%
                                                                Population
                                                           - Total ( 2005)
                                                      - Density Not ranked
                                                                 1,884,046
                                                                  856/km²
                                                          Established 1855
                                                   Time zone SAST ( UTC+2)
                                                          Calling code 012

   The central area of Pretoria.
   Enlarge
   The central area of Pretoria.

   Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province,
   South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving
   as the executive (administrative) capital; the other two being Cape
   Town and Bloemfontein, respectively the legislative and judicial
   capitals.

   Pretoria is contained in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
   as one of several constituent former administrations (among which also
   Centurion and Soshanguve), and therefore sometimes incorrectly referred
   to as Tshwane — this contentious issue is still being decided as of
   January 2006; see the discussion further down in this article.

   Pretoria is town twinned with Washington, D.C., United States.

Change of name

   On 26 May 2005 the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC),
   which is linked to the Directorate of Heritage in the Department of
   Arts and Culture, approved changing the name of Pretoria to Tshwane,
   which is already the name of the Metropolitan Municipality in which
   Pretoria, and a number of surrounding towns are located. Although the
   name change has been approved by the SAGNC, it has not yet been
   approved by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan, as of 31
   March 2006. The matter is currently under consideration while he has
   requested further research on the matter. Should the Minister approve
   the name change, the name will be published in the Government Gazette,
   giving the public opportunity to comment on the matter. The Minister
   can then refer the public response back to the SAGNC, before presenting
   his recommendation before parliament, who will vote on the change.
   Various public interest groups have warned that the name change will be
   challenged in court, should the minister approve the renaming. The long
   process involved made it unlikely the name would change in 2006, even
   assuming the Minister had approved the change early in the year 2006.

Geography and climate

   Pretoria is situated in the transitional area between the Highveld and
   the Bushveld, approximately 50 km north of Johannesburg in the
   north-east of South Africa. It lies in a warm, well sheltered, fertile
   valley, surrounded by the hills of the Magaliesberg range, 1,370 m
   (4,495 ft) above sea level. The city's coordinates are approximate
   25°43′S 28°17′E

   CAPTION: Climate Table

   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
   Highest recorded temperature ( °C) 36 36 35 33 29 25 26 31 34 36 36 35
   36
   Average daily maximum temperature ( °C) 29 28 27 24 22 19 20 22 26 27
   27 28 25
   Average daily minimum temperature ( °C) 18 17 16 12 8 5 5 8 12 14 16 17
   12
   Lowest recorded temperature ( °C) 8 11 6 3 -1 -6 -4 -1 2 4 7 7 -6
   Average monthly precipitation ( mm) 136 75 82 51 13 7 3 6 22 71 98 110
   674
   Average number of rain days (>= 1 mm) 14 11 10 7 3 1 1 2 3 9 12 15 87
   Source: South African Weather Service

Demographics

   Geographical distribution of home languages in the Tshwane Metropolitan
   Municipality.
   Enlarge
   Geographical distribution of home languages in the Tshwane Metropolitan
   Municipality.

   The city has a population of approximately one million. The main
   languages spoken in Pretoria include Tswana, Ndebele, Afrikaans, and
   English. The whole Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality had a population
   of 1 985 997 as at the 2001 census.

   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

   Satellite image of Pretoria from above.
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Pretoria from above.

   Nguni-speaking settlers, who later became known as the Ndebele (derived
   from the Sotho word for 'refugees'), were probably the first people to
   recognise the suitability of the river valley which was to become the
   location of the future city of Pretoria for settlement.

   During the difaqane in Natal, another band of refugees arrived in this
   area under the leadership of Mzilikazi. However, they were forced to
   abandon their villages in their flight from a regiment of Zulu raiders
   in 1832.

   Pretoria itself was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius, a leader of
   the Voortrekkers, who named it after his father Andries Pretorius. The
   elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the Voortrekkers after
   his victory over the Zulus in the famous Battle of Blood River. Andries
   Pretorius also negotiated the Sand River Convention ( 1852), in which
   Britain acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal. It became the
   capital of the South African Republic (ZAR) on 1 May 1860.

   The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic
   can be seen as marking the end of the Boers' settlement movements of
   the Great Trek.

   During the First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces
   in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty which ended the war
   was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the Pretoria Convention.

   The Second Boer War ( 1899 to 1902) resulted in the end of the South
   African Republic and start of British hegemony in South Africa. During
   the war, Winston Churchill was imprisoned in the Staats Model School in
   Pretoria but escaped to Mozambique. The city surrendered to British
   forces under Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts on 5 June 1900
   and the conflict was ended in Pretoria with the signing of the Peace of
   Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.

   The Boer Republics of the ZAR and the Orange Free State were united
   with the Cape Colony and Natal Colony in 1910 to become the Union of
   South Africa. Pretoria then became the administrative capital of the
   whole of South Africa, with Cape Town the legislative capital. Between
   1860 and 1994, the city was also the capital of the province of
   Transvaal, superseding Potchefstroom in that role.

   On 14 October 1931, Pretoria achieved official city status. When South
   Africa became a republic in 1961, Pretoria remained its administrative
   capital.

   After the creation of new municipal structures across South Africa in
   2000, the name Tshwane was adopted for the Metropolitan Municipality
   that includes Pretoria and surrounding towns.

   Pretoria previously had an image as "the capital of Apartheid South
   Africa". However, Pretoria's political reputation was changed with the
   inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the country's first black President
   at the Union Buildings in the same city. However, the name Pretoria
   still has a negative connotation to some black South Africans, and
   therefore a change of name to Tshwane has been proposed. This proposed
   change is controversial to the many inhabitants of the city, especially
   the Afrikaner community, to whom the name Pretoria has an important
   historical relevance.

   One example of the image of Pretoria abroad was the derisive nickname
   Pretoria-Gasteiz for Vitoria-Gasteiz in Negu Gorriak's song Napartheid.

Cultural and academic

   The front part of the Theo van Wyk Building on the Main Campus of
   UNISA.
   Enlarge
   The front part of the Theo van Wyk Building on the Main Campus of
   UNISA.
   Streetsigns in Pretoria
   Enlarge
   Streetsigns in Pretoria

   Pretoria is one of South Africa's leading academic cities, and it is
   home to both the largest residential university in the country (the
   University of Pretoria), the Tshwane University of Technology and the
   largest distance education university (the University of South Africa,
   more commonly known by its initials, UNISA). The South African Council
   for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is also located in this
   city.

   One of the most popular sports in Pretoria is rugby union. Loftus
   Versfeld is home to the Blue Bulls who compete in the domestic Currie
   Cup, and the Bulls who compete in the international Super 14
   competition. Pretoria also hosted matches during the 1995 Rugby World
   Cup. Loftus and Rainbow Junction will be used for matches of the 2010
   World Cup.

Economy

   Pretoria is an important industrial centre, with heavy industries
   including iron and steel casting as well as automobile, railroad and
   machinery manufacture. In a study entitled An Inquiry into Cities and
   Their Role in Subnational Economic Growth in South Africa and published
   in 2002 by statisticians at Potchefstroom University, the city was
   found to contribute 8.55% of the country's total GDP, making it the
   third biggest contributor behind Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Places of interest

     * The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa
     * 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)
     * Church Square
     * Union Buildings
     * Voortrekker Monument
     * Freedom Park
     * Marabastad
     * Transvaal Museum
     * African Window
     * Menlyn Park

Trivia

     * Pretoria's main street, Church Street, is the longest urban street
       in South Africa and one of the longest straight streets in the
       world.
     * Many of the city's streets are lined with Jacaranda trees that
       blossom mauve (purplish blue) in spring, giving rise to the city's
       nickname "Jacaranda City".
     * The Cullinan Diamond (the largest gem diamond ever found) was
       discovered in the town of Cullinan near Pretoria at the Premier
       Mine on January 26, 1905.
     * Pax Praetoriana was named after Pretoria.
     * The initial full designation of the city was Pretoria Philadelphia
       (‘Pretoria of brotherly love’).

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretoria"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
