Johan′nesburg, a town in Transvaal, South Africa, and the chief point in the Witwatersrand gold-fields. It is 35 miles south of Pretoria, the capital. The town has had a remarkable growth. Railroads connect it with Delagoa Bay, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The population recently numbered 237,220, consisting of (120,411) whites, (116,809) colored, aboriginal natives and other colored races. The town is well-equipped with churches, banks and mercantile houses, but the water supply is poor and sanitary arrangements are defective. Dust-storms are a feature, and fevers sometimes are epidemic. With the outbreak of the Boer War Johannesburg temporarily lost its British population, which hurriedly withdrew. The city was occupied by Lord Roberts on May 31, 1900.
