Witwatersrand
| Witwatersrand | ||
|---|---|---|
 Waterfall in the Witwatersrand National Botanical Gardens |
||
| location | South Africa | |
|
||
| Coordinates | 26 ° 12 ′ S , 28 ° 3 ′ E | |
Witwatersrand is a mountain range in the provinces of Gauteng , North West and Mpumalanga in South Africa . These provinces belong to the former Transvaal . The name of the landscape means "ridge with white water", in which a description of the natural terrain level with waterfalls is expressed.
description
Although the approximately 200-kilometer-long ridge towers up to 1,779 meters above sea level, it only towers over the surrounding landscape by up to 300 meters. It is divided into a western ( west edge ), a middle ( central edge ) around Johannesburg and an eastern part ( east edge ). It is part of the continental divide between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans .
history
Although gold had already been discovered in other places in South Africa ( Barberton and Pilgrim's Rest ), the real gold rush did not begin until the gold was discovered in February 1886, a few kilometers from present-day Johannesburg. As a result, a dense settlement developed along the Witwatersrand, from Randfontein via Johannesburg to Springs . The largest known gold soap is also located there .
In 1887 Cecil John Rhodes founded the first mining company in South Africa with the name "The Gold Fields of South Africa".
Application of terms
The metropolitan area around Johannesburg is also often referred to as Witwatersrand or Wits - a name that is also used in the former name of the province of Gauteng Pretoria -Witwatersrand- Vereeniging , abbreviated PWV.
After the ridge, the University of the Witwatersrand got its name. Other application examples that give it its name are Rand Airport , Rand Merchant Bank , Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), Rand Water , Randburg or Rand Aid Association .
The currency of South Africa, the rand , was named after this region, since large gold discoveries started intensive mining here.
Individual evidence
- ^ René A. Pelletier: Mineral Resources of South-Central Africa. Oxford University Press, Cape Town / London / New York / Toronto 1964, p. 51.