Pretoria, South Africa
| Pretoria | |||
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Clockwise from top left: Pretoria CBD skyline, Front view of the Union Buildings, Voortrekker Monument, Administration Building of the University of Pretoria, Church Square, Loftus Versfeld Stadium and the Palace of Justice.
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| Nickname(s): Jacaranda City, PTA (abbreviation) | |||
| Motto: Præstantia Prævaleat Prætoria (May Pretoria Be Pre-eminent In Excellence) | |||
 Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria shown within Gauteng
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| Coordinates: 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 | ||
| Municipality | City of Tshwane | ||
| Established | 1855 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Metropolitan municipality | ||
| • Mayor | Solly Msimanga (DA) | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 687.54 km2 (265.46 sq mi) | ||
| • Metro | 6,298 km2 (2,432 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 1,339 m (4,393 ft) | ||
| Population (2011) | |||
| • City | 741,651 | ||
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi) | ||
| • Metro | 2,921,488 | ||
| • Metro density | 460/km2 (1,200/sq mi) | ||
| Racial makeup (2011) | |||
| • Black African | 42.0% | ||
| • Coloured | 2.5% | ||
| • Indian/Asian | 1.9% | ||
| • White | 52.5% | ||
| • Other | 1.2% | ||
| First languages (2011) | |||
| • Afrikaans | 47.7% | ||
| • English | 16.4% | ||
| • Northern Sotho | 8.0% | ||
| • Tswana | 5.4% | ||
| • Other | 22.5% | ||
| Postal code (street) | 0002 | ||
| PO box | 0001 | ||
| Area code | 012 | ||
| HDI |
 0.75 High (2012)
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| GDP | US$ 49.9 billion | ||
| GDP per capita | US$ 17,206 | ||
| Website | tshwane.gov.za | ||
Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government (Cape Town is the legislative capital and Bloemfontein the judicial capital). Pretoria has a reputation for being an academic city with three universities and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) located in its eastern suburbs, the city also hosts the South African Bureau of Standards making the city a hub for research. Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion and Soshanguve. There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, and the proposed name change has caused some controversy.
Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius, and within South Africa is popularly known as the "Jacaranda City" due to the thousands of Jacaranda trees planted in its streets, parks and gardens.
Pretoria was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius, a leader of the Voortrekkers, who named it after his father Andries Pretorius and chose a spot on the banks of the "Apies rivier" (Afrikaans for "Monkeys river") to be the new capital of the South African Republic (ZAR). The elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over the Dingane and the Zulus in the Battle of Blood River. The elder 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.
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