Pretoria
Pretoria
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Top: View of Pretoria from the Voortrekker Monument; Second row: Union Buildings; Third row: UNISA Muckleneuk campus; Fourth row (Left to Right): Voortrekker Monument and Palace of Justice; Bottom: Old Arts Building, University of Pretoria. | |
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Coat of arms | |
| Nicknames: Jacaranda City, 012, Pirara, PTA | |
| Motto: Præstantia Prævaleat Prætoria ("May Pretoria be pre-eminent in excellence") | |
Pretoria Location in South Africa Pretoria Pretoria (South Africa) Pretoria Pretoria (Africa) | |
| Coordinates: 25°44′46″S 28°11′17″E / 25.74611°S 28.18806°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Gauteng |
| Municipality | City of Tshwane |
| Established | 18 November 1855 |
| Founded by | Marthinus Wessel Pretorius |
| Founded by | Marthinus Wessel Pretorius |
| Named after | Andries Pretorius |
| Government | |
| • Type | Metropolitan municipality |
| • Executive Mayor | Nasiphi Moya (ActionSA) |
| Area | |
| 687.54 km2 (265.46 sq mi) | |
| • Metro | 6,297.83 km2 (2,431.61 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,339 m (4,393 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| 741,651 | |
| • Rank | 34th in Africa 4th in South Africa |
| • Density | 1,078.7/km2 (2,793.8/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 4,040,315 (2,024) |
| • Metro density | 641.541/km2 (1,661.58/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Pretorian |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • White | 52.45% |
| • Black | 41.95% |
| • Coloured | 2.50% |
| • Indian/Asian | 1.93% |
| • Other | 1.17% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 47.67% |
| • English | 16.38% |
| • Sepedi | 8.02% |
| • Tswana | 5.44% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Area code | 012 |
| GDP | US$75.6 billion |
| GDP per capita | US$23,108 |
| HDI | 0.75 High (2012) |
| Website | www |
Pretoria (/prɪˈtɔːriə, pri-/ prih-TOR-ee-ə, pree-; Afrikaans: [prəˈtʉəria] ⓘ) is the administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and centre of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. It also hosts the National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards. Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
As the administrative capital of the country, Pretoria hosts the headquarters of all national government departments and agencies. The city is also a major global diplomatic hub; it is home to 134 foreign embassies and high commissions, representing the second-largest concentration of diplomatic missions in the world, surpassed only by Washington, D.C.
Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including Bronkhorstspruit, Centurion, Cullinan, Hammanskraal and Soshanguve. Some have proposed changing the official name from Pretoria to Tshwane, which has caused some public controversy.
Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius, and South Africans sometimes call it the "Jacaranda City", because of the thousands of jacaranda trees planted along its streets and in its parks and gardens.