Johannesburg
BeenSouth AfricaCwa
📷 Evan Bench· CC BY 2.0eGoli, the Place of Gold | Khauleza Jozi
About
Johannesburg, colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg or "The City of Gold", is the most populous city in South Africa. The City of Johannesburg itself has a population of 5,538,596, while the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality has a population of 6,599,190, making it one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, and seat of the country's highest court, the Constitutional Court. Situated on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the city has long been at the epicentre of the international mineral and gold trade. The richest city in Africa by GDP and private wealth, Johannesburg functions as the economic capital of South Africa and is home to the continent's largest stock exchange, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Wikipedia →Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Johannesburg, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.
Why visit
The Apartheid Museum is essential and devastating. Add the Soweto townships (with the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Mandela House on Vilakazi Street, the only street in the world to host two Nobel laureates), Constitution Hill, the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO site (with hominid fossil caves) just outside, the Maboneng creative-arts precinct, and easy access to Kruger National Park.
When to avoid
Crime is a real concern, do not walk alone after dark in the CBD, Hillbrow, Berea or Yeoville, and use Uber or registered taxis rather than walking long distances. Loadshedding (rolling power cuts) can disrupt plans; check Eskom schedules. Don't display valuables in vehicles, especially at robots (traffic lights). Most travellers base in safer Sandton or Rosebank.
Summer
December through February are the period when heat, daylight, crowds, or humidity most affect a visit to Johannesburg. Warm weather in Johannesburg is useful when the route leaves space for shade, rest, and slower hours. In Johannesburg, put exposed walks, ruins, viewpoints, beaches, and markets early or late, then use interiors for the harder hours. For Johannesburg, choose this period for daylight and atmosphere, not for a perfectly controlled cultural schedule. In Johannesburg, confirm performance and exhibition dates before assuming summer crowds mean a fuller cultural calendar.
Winter
Highveld winter (May to August) is dry, sunny and cold at night, daytime highs around 18 to 20°C feel pleasantly mild but nights drop to 2 to 5°C with frequent frost. Almost no rain. Indoor heating in many older homes is poor; layer up indoors. Crisp blue skies, excellent visibility, and the prime safari window for nearby Kruger and Pilanesberg.
The next week in Johannesburg
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
Today
Partly cloudy
20° / 9°
UV Moderate
Sat
Overcast
20° / 9°
UV Moderate
Sun
Overcast
18° / 9°
UV Moderate
Mon
Drizzle
16° / 10°
1.3 mm
UV Moderate
Tue
Drizzle
16° / 9°
2.4 mm
UV Moderate
Wed
Partly cloudy
18° / 9°
UV Moderate
In May 16
JFMAMJJASOND
Air quality
No monitoring station within 25 km.
Weather
29° / -4°
Typical high / low
1 mm rainfall this month
Daylight
10.9h
06:38 – 17:29local
Year-round climate
Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).
Airports near Johannesburg
2 commercial airports within 100 km. Closest is O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) at 22 km.
Getting around Johannesburg
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Local transit operators
Operators and modes aggregated by TransitLand from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications (subway / tram / rail / bus / etc) come from each feed’s GTFS route_type codes.
Sister cities
Sources
This page blends public reference data, climate/elevation services, and personal notes. Travel requirements can change, so visa and entry details should be checked again before booking.
- Wikipedia →
Summary, canonical article, and some image fallbacks.
- Wikidata →
Population, area, image, coordinates, and linked identifiers where available.
- NASA POWER →
Monthly temperature and rainfall climatology.
- Open-Meteo historical weather →
1991-2020 temperature and precipitation cross-check for compact climate fields.
- Open-Elevation →
Coordinate-based elevation backfill.
- tz database →
Coordinate-based IANA timezone lookup.
- City flag source →
Public domain, Mangwanani.
- Site credits →
Global source notes, map tiles, flags, licenses, and attribution policy.