Pretoria
The central area of Pretoria viewed from the Union Buildings. The central area of Pretoria viewed from the Union Buildings.
Flag
Motto: Praestantia Praevaleat Pretoria (May Pretoria Be Pre-eminent In Excellence)
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Established	1855
Area
- City	1644 km  (0 sq mi)
Population (2005)
- City	1,884,046
- Density	856/km (0/sq mi)
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)
Area code(s)	012

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) and official de facto capital; the others being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.

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.

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 . Snow is an extremely rare event, which occurs once or twice in a century, with the last recorded snowfall on 27 June 2007.

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

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 of the 2001 census.

Language	Population	%
Pedi	439 732	22.14%
Afrikaans	422 866	21.29%
Tswana	339 719	17.11%
Tsonga	198 441	9.99%
Zulu	151 200	7.61%
English	129 923	6.54%
Ndebele	98 077	4.94%
Sotho	78 435	3.95%
Swati	37 963	1.91%
Xhosa	37 957	1.91%
Venda	35 242	1.77%
Other	16 425	0.83%

History

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 infamous 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 a rather sinister 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 most of the inhabitants of the city.

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

In 1994 after the fall of the Apartheid regime Peter Holmes Maluleka was elected to be the transitional mayor of Pretoria, until the first democratic election held later that year, making him the first black mayor of the capital of South Africa. Maluleka later became the chairman of the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan City Council (later Tshwane Metro Council), then was elected Speaker of the Tshwane Metro Council and in 2004 was chosen to be a member of the South African Parliament for the Soshanguve constituency.

Cultural and academic

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.

Sport

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 (Winners of the Super 14 in 2007). Pretoria also hosted matches during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Loftus Versfeld will be used for matches of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.There are two soccer teams in the city campaigning in the Premier Soccer League. They are Sundowns and Supersport United. Sundowns are the reigning PSL Champions.

Economy

Pretoria is an important industrial center, 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.^[1]

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^[2] in which Pretoria, and a number of surrounding towns are located. Although the name change was approved by the SAGNC, it has not yet been approved by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan. 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 anytime soon, if ever, even assuming the Minister had approved the change in early 2006.

The Tshwane Metro Council has advertised Tshwane as "Africa's leading capital city" since the name change was approved by the SAGNC in 2005. This has led to further controversy, however, as the name of the city had not yet been changed officially, and the council was, at best, acting prematurely. Following a complaint lodged with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), it was ruled that such advertisements are deliberately misleading and should be withdrawn from all media.^[3] Despite the rulings of the ASA, Tshwane Metro Council failed to discontinue their "City of Tshwane" advertisements. As a result, the ASA requested that Tshwane Metro pay for advertisements in which it admits that it has misled the public. Refusing to abide by the ASA's request, the Metro Council was banned consequently from placing any advertisements in the South African media that refer to Tshwane as the capital. ASA may still place additional sanctions on the Metro Council that would prevent it from placing any advertisements in the South African media, including council notices and employment vacancies.^[4][5]

After the ruling, the Metro Council continued to place Tshwane advertisements, but placed them on council-owned advertising boards and busstops throughout the municipal area. In August 2007, an internal memo was leaked to the media in which the Tshwane mayor sought advice from the premier of Gauteng on whether the municipality could be called the "City of Tshwane" instead of just "Tshwane".^[6] This could increase confusion about the distinction between the city of Pretoria and the municipality of Tshwane.

Sister cities

• Johannesburg, South Africa

Places of interest

• The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa
• Church Square
• Union Buildings
• Marabastad
• Menlyn Park

Museums

• 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)
• Voortrekker Monument
• Freedom Park
• Transvaal Museum
• African Window

Nature Reserves

• Groenkloof Nature Reserve
• Rietfontein Nature Reserve
• Moreletaspruit Nature Reserve
• Fairy Glen Nature Reserve
• Wonderboom Nature Reserve
• National Botanical Gardens

Stadiums

• Loftus Versfeld

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" (or "Jakarandastad" in Afrikaans).
• 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’).
• In E. Peterbus Unum, Peter names his new micro-state "Petoria"

See also

• Central Business District of Pretoria.

References

External links

• Pretoria portal

Coordinates:

•  • [ e] 50 largest cities in South Africa by population

Johannesburg Durban Cape Town East Rand Pretoria Port Elizabeth East London Vereeniging Bloemfontein Thohoyandou Pietermaritzburg Polokwane Bushbuckridge Louis Trichardt Nelspruit Mthatha Welkom Rustenburg Mount Ayliff Greater Tzaneen Qwa-Qwa Klerksdorp Brits Nkomazi Newcastle Mokopane Krugersdorp Richards Bay Gcuwa Libode Witbank Burgersfort Ngwaritsi Mafikeng KwaMhlanga Flagstaff Idutywa Bizana Mdutjana Greater Giyani Mogwase Lebowakgomop Ladysmith Highveld Ridge Eshowe Groblersdal Duiwelsklook Port Shepstone Ulundi Carletonville

•  • [ e] Capitals of Africa

Abidjan, Cte d'Ivoire Abuja, Nigeria Accra, Ghana Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Algiers, Algeria Antananarivo, Madagascar Asmara, Eritrea Bamako, Mali Bangui, Central African Republic Banjul, Gambia Bissau, Guinea-Bissau Bloemfontein (One of 3), South Africa Brazzaville, Congo Republic Bujumbura, Burundi Cairo, Egypt Cape Town (One of 3), South Africa Conakry, Guinea Cotonou, Benin Dakar, Senegal Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Djibouti, Djibouti Dodoma, Tanzania Freetown, Sierra Leone Gaborone, Botswana Harare, Zimbabwe Jamestown, Saint Helena Kampala, Uganda Khartoum, Sudan Kigali, Rwanda Kinshasa, Congo Democratic Republic Libreville, Gabon Lilongwe, Malawi Lobamba, Swaziland Lom, Togo Luanda, Angola Lusaka, Zambia Moroni, Comoros Malabo, Equatorial Guinea Maseru, Lesotho Mamoudzou, Mayotte Maputo, Mozambique Mogadishu, Somalia Mbabane, Swaziland Monrovia, Liberia Nouakchott, Mauritania Niamey, Niger N'Djamena, Chad Nairobi, Kenya Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Port Louis, Mauritius Porto-Novo, Benin Praia, Cape Verde Pretoria (One of 3), South Africa Rabat, Morocco Saint-Denis, Runion So Tom, So Tom and Prncipe Tripoli, Libya Tunis, Tunisia Victoria, Seychelles Windhoek, Namibia Yaound, Cameroon Yamoussoukro, Cte d'Ivoire