Centurion (South Africa)
| Centurion | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 25 ° 52 ′ S , 28 ° 11 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Gauteng | |||
| metropolis | City of Tshwane | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA-GP | ||
| height | 1429 m | ||
| surface | 239.2 km² | ||
| Residents | 236,580 (2011) | ||
| density | 989.1 Ew. / km² | ||
| founding | 1902 | ||
| Post Code | 0014 - 0178 | ||
|
Special features: formerly Irene , Lyttelton and Verwoerdburg |
|||
 Centurion Gautrain station
|
|||
Centurion (formerly Irene , Lyttelton , later Verwoerdburg ) is a city in the South African province of Gauteng . It belongs to the metropolitan municipality of Tshwane .
geography
Centurion had 236,580 inhabitants in 2011 according to the census. The place is in the metropolitan area between the capital Pretoria and Midrand , which belongs to Johannesburg . The hennops flows through the center of Centurion.
history
In 1841 several members of the Erasmus family founded farms in what is now Centurion. Several of today's suburbs were named after them. In 1889 Alois Hugo Nelmapius bought parts of the Doornkloof farm and named them after his daughter Irene. In the Second Boer War that was here 1,901 concentration camp Irene Concentration Camp erected. Up to 5500 Boers were imprisoned here. 1249 of them died, including around 1000 children. In 1902 the town of Irene was founded on the Doornkloof site . The future South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts bought the farm and died there in 1950.
In 1904 the Lyttelton settlement was established on the Droogegrond farm . In 1962 Doornkloof, Irene and Lyttelton were merged under the common name Lyttelton and were given town charter . In 1967 the city after the murdered last year was president Hendrik Verwoerd in Verwoerdburg renamed. In 1995 the city was renamed again after the end of apartheid . It was named Centurion after the Centurion Park cricket stadium , later called SuperSport Park . Several townships and some districts of Pretoria were incorporated into Centurion. The city grew quickly. Numerous new businesses and shopping centers sprang up.
In 2000 Centurion lost its official city status and became part of the newly created City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality .
Economy and Transport
The air bases Swartkop and Waterkloof the South African Air Force are in Centurion. In 2006, with the help of the European Union, the Centurion Aerospace Village (CAV) was founded to bring together the aviation industry in South Africa.
The Denel Land Systems division of the Denel Group, originally called Lyttelton Engineering Works ( afrikaans : Lyttelton Ingenieurswerke , LIW), is located in the city, a well-known arms company that has operated under the management of Armscor since 1968 .
Centurion is located near the intersection of the N1 and N14 national roads . The Centurion station is served by the Gautrain local transport system. The local trains of the Metrorail Gauteng , which run between Johannesburg and Pretoria, stop within Centurion in Irene, Centurion, Sportpark and Kloofsig.
Attractions
The concentration camp cemetery with 576 tombstones has been preserved. The Air Force maintains the South African Air Force Museum.
Sports
Numerous international cricket competitions have been held in the stadium in Centurion. The permanent motorsport circuit Zwartkops Raceway is also close to the city .
Web links
- Private Website Centurion (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Centurion population statistics, 2011 census , accessed on October 3, 2013
- ^ History of Centurions , accessed April 7, 2012
- ↑ CAV website , accessed on April 8, 2012