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Johannesburg is where the action is. It's the most powerful commercial centre on the African continent. It is a modern African city that works: the phones dial, the lights switch on, you can drink the water, there are multi-lane freeways, skyscrapers, conference centres, and great golf courses. Johannesburg has a population of about 2,5-million people, in a country of 46,5-million. The city is recognised as the financial capital of South Africa and is home to many big businesses. Johannesburg sits on a high-altitude inland plateau 1,753 metres (6,000 feet) above sea level. This means it takes a minute longer to boil an egg here, and visiting athletes must arrive a week early to acclimatise. The weather is balmy 10 months of the year, generally warm, but not as stiflingly hot as many other African cities. Nights however can be chilly, particularly in winter. Seasons are the reverse of the northern hemisphere, with summer from October to March, and winter from June to August. For visitors from overseas, Johannesburg is extremely inexpensive and offers outstanding value for money! Travelers from Europe and the USA can rely on a rule of thumb that most locally produced goods will cost a little more than half of what you would have expected to pay for the equivalent back home. Johannesburg or Joburg? Johannesburg is a bit of a mouthful, which is why South Africans invariably call the city "Joburg". The shorter name is creeping towards respectability: the municipality recently decided to use "Joburg" on all marketing and official stationery. There was talk at one point of giving the city an African name like Egoli, meaning "city of gold", until that name was hijacked by the country's longest-running television soap opera.

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