Gauteng | ||
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Province of South Africa | ||
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Motto: Unity in Diversity | ||
Location of Gauteng in South Africa |
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Country | South Africa | |
Established | 28 April 1994 | |
Capital | Johannesburg | |
Districts | ||
Government | ||
• Type | Parliamentary system | |
• Premier | David Makhura (ANC) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 18,176 km2 (7,018 sq mi) | |
Area rank | 9th in South Africa | |
Highest elevation | 1,913 m (6,276 ft) | |
Population (2011) | ||
• Total | 12,272,263 | |
• Estimate (2015) | 13,200,300 | |
• Rank | 1st in South Africa | |
• Density | 680/km2 (1,700/sq mi) | |
• Density rank | 1st in South Africa | |
Population groups | ||
• Black African | 74.1% | |
• White | 19.1% | |
• Coloured | 3.5% | |
• Indian or Asian | 2.6% | |
Languages | ||
• Zulu | 17.8% | |
• English | 14.3% | |
• Afrikaans | 13.8% | |
• Sotho | 11.6% | |
• Northern Sotho | 10.6% | |
Time zone | SAST (UTC+2) | |
ISO 3166 code | ZA-GT | |
Website | www |
Gauteng (/xaʊˈtɛŋ/; Sotho pronunciation [xɑ́.ú.ˈtʼè.ŋ̀]), which means "place of gold", is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994. It was initially named Pretoria–Witwatersrand–Vereeniging (PWV) and was renamed "Gauteng" in December 1994.
Situated in the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province in South Africa, accounting for only 1.5% of the land area. Nevertheless, it is highly urbanised, containing the country's largest city, Johannesburg, its administrative capital, Pretoria, and other large industrial areas such as Midrand and Vanderbijlpark. As of 2015[update], it has a population of nearly 13.2 million, making it the most populous province in South Africa.
The name Gauteng is derived from the Sotho name, "gauta" meaning "gold" with the locative suffix "-eng". There was a thriving gold industry in the province following the 1886 discovery of gold in Johannesburg. In Sesotho, the name "Gauteng" was used for Johannesburg and surrounding areas long before it was adopted in 1994 as the official name of a province.