Johannesburg

=== Topography ===
[[File:Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa (4690804881).jpg|thumb|[[Satellite image]] of Johannesburg]]
[[File:JohannesburgGP-Aerial.jpg|thumb|January 2008 Johannesburg aerial view looking towards the south-east]]
Johannesburg is located in the eastern plateau area of South Africa known as the [[Highveld]], at an elevation of {{convert|1753|m|ft}}. The former [[Central Business District]] is located on the southern side of the prominent ridge called the [[Witwatersrand]] (English: White Water's Ridge) and the terrain falls to the north and south. By and large the Witwatersrand marks the watershed between the [[Limpopo River|Limpopo]] and [[Vaal River|Vaal]] rivers as the northern part of the city is drained by the [[Jukskei River]] while the southern part of the city, including most of the Central Business District, is drained by the [[Klip River]]. The north and west of the city has undulating hills while the eastern parts are flatter.

Johannesburg may not be built on a river or harbour, but its streams contribute to two of southern Africa's mightiest rivers, the [[Limpopo River|Limpopo]] and the [[Orange River|Orange]]. Most of the springs from which many of these streams emanate are now covered in concrete and canalised, accounting for the fact that the names of early farms in the area often end with "fontein", meaning "spring" in Afrikaans. Braamfontein, Rietfontein, Zevenfontein, Doornfontein, Zandfontein and Randjesfontein are some examples. When the first white settlers reached the area that is now Johannesburg, they noticed the glistening rocks on the ridges, running with trickles of water, fed by the streams—giving the area its name, the Witwatersrand, "the ridge of white waters". Another explanation is that the whiteness comes from the quartzite rock, which has a particular sheen to it after rain.<ref>Lucille Davie ''Water, water every day'' www.joburg.org.za, 24 December 2004.</ref>

The site was not chosen for its streams, however. The main reasons the city was founded where it stands today was because of the gold. Indeed, the city once sat near massive amounts of gold, given that at one point the Witwatersrand gold industry produced forty per cent of the planet's gold.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Johannesburg-South-Africa |title=Johannesburg |last=Campbell |first=James T. |date=19 August 2015 |website=Britannica.com |access-date=8 November 2016 |archive-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109090744/https://www.britannica.com/place/Johannesburg-South-Africa |url-status=live }}</ref>