After recently returning from a trip Home, I remembered I had written this post about the 2 cities I have lived in one for over 3 decades being Johannesburg and now in Dublin, I did not publish at the time so am posting it now.
A tale of 2 cities
– Dublin / Johannesburg
I love History and sometimes wonder why I didn't take an interest
earlier in life, but they say it’s never too late to learn new things.
I love reading stuff about Dublin as it’s the city where I now live; it
is so old and interesting the city is over 1000 years old, and compared to the
city where I grew up, Johannesburg is not even 200 years old yet. However I think Johannesburg in its short life
still has a BIG history.
DUBLIN – 988 A.D.
Dublin (pron.: /ˈdʌblɨn/; locally /ˈdʊbᵊlən/; Irish: Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of
the hurdled ford", pronounced [blʲaˈklʲiə] or Áth Cliath, [aː klʲiə], occasionally
Duibhlinn) is the capital and most populous city of Ireland. The English name
for the city is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, meaning "black
pool". Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at
the mouth of the River Liffey and the centre of the Dublin Region.
Originally founded as a Viking
settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's
principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from
the 17th century; it was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire
and the fifth largest in Europe. Dublin entered a period of stagnation
following the Act of Union of 1800, but it remained the economic centre for
most of the island. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the new
parliament, the Oireachtas, was located in Leinster House. Dublin became the
capital of the Irish Free State and later the Republic of Ireland.
Dublin was established as a Viking settlement in the 9th century and,
despite a number of rebellions by the native Irish, it remained largely under
Viking control until the Norman invasion of Ireland was launched from Wales in
1169. The King of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada, enlisted the help of
Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke, to conquer Dublin. Following Mac Murrough’s
death, Strongbow declared himself King of Leinster after gaining control of the
city. In response to Strongbow's successful invasion, King Henry II of England
reaffirmed his sovereignty by mounting a larger invasion in 1171 and
pronouncing himself Lord of Ireland. Around this time, the county of the City
of Dublin was established along with certain liberties adjacent to the city
proper. This continued down to 1840 when the Barony of Dublin City was
separated from the Barony of Dublin. Since 2001, both baronies have been
redesignated the City of Dublin.
FACTS ABOUT DUBLIN
Population: 1.3 Million (2011)
Area: 115 Square kilometres
Location: The city is sited
on the estuary of the River Liffey. This river empties into Dublin Bay which
opens onto the Irish Sea. To the south,
Dublin is bordered by a low mountain range.
Climate: Average summer
temperatures: 16C to 20C
Average winter temperatures: 4C to 7C
Average annual rainfall: 840 mm / 33
inches
How many cities called Dublin are
there in the world?
19 – There are 12 cities called Dublin in the USA, 6
in Australia and of course 1 in Ireland.
JOHANNESBURG –
1886 A.D.
Johannesburg was formed almost 900 years after Dublin ...
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg, Joni, eGoli or Joeys, is the
largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial
capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest
economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa. The city is one of
the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the world, and is also the world's largest
city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline. It claims to be the lightning
capital of the world, though this title is also claimed by others.
Gold was discovered in the 1880s and triggered the gold rush. Gold was
initially discovered some 400 km to the east of present-day Johannesburg, in
Barberton. Gold prospectors soon discovered that there were even richer gold
reefs in the Witwatersrand. Gold was discovered at Langlaagte, Johannesburg in
1886.
Johannesburg was a dusty settlement some 55 km from the
Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) capital which was Pretoria. The town—named
after two surveyors employed by the ZAR, Johannes Meyer and Johannes Rissik—was
much the same as any small prospecting settlement, but, as word spread, people
flocked to the area from all other regions of the country, as well as from
North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. Like many late 19th century
mining towns, Johannesburg was a rough and disorganized place, populated by
white miners from other continents, African tribesmen recruited to perform
unskilled mine work, African women beer brewers who cooked for and sold beer to
the black migrant workers, a very large number of European prostitutes, gangsters,
impoverished Afrikaners, tradesmen, and Zulu "AmaWasha," Zulu men who
surprisingly dominated laundry work. As
the value of control of the land increased, tensions developed between the Boer
government in Pretoria and the British, culminating in the Jameson Raid that
ended in fiasco at Doornkop in January 1896 and the Second Boer War (1899–1902)
that saw British forces under Lord Roberts occupy the city on 30 May 1900 after
a series of battles to the south of its then-limits.
FACTS ABOUT Johannesburg:
Population: 2.4 Million
Area: 1,100 Square kilometres
Location: Johannesburg is
2,000m above sea level. Nearest Major
Harbor is Durban some 600 km’s away.
Climate: Johannesburg has an average
of 12 hours of sunlight a day. Summer
temperatures range from about 25 degrees centigrade up to a max of about 38.
Winters
are temperate and dry with no rainfall and crisp, clear days. The winter runs
from May – August. Evenings and early mornings can get quite cold with
temperatures ranging from 0 degrees centigrade up to a max of around 22.
Daytime temperatures average at around 15 degrees centigrade.
How many cities called Johannesburg
are there in the world?
There is 1 other city in the world called
Johannesburg, and quite freaky how similar names pop into this bit of
information from Wikipedia
Johannesburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County,
California, in a mining district of the Rand Mountains. Johannesburg is located
1 mile (1.6 km) east-northeast of Randsburg,[3] at an elevation of 3517 feet
(1072 m).[2] The terminus of the Randsburg Railway was here from 1897 to 1933.
The population was 172 at the 2010 census, down from 176 at the 2000 census.
Johannesburg is divided from the neighboring community of Randsburg by a ridge.
The town is frequently referred to as "Jo-burg" by locals and
frequent visitors to the northwest Mojave.
So seems to “Not be” the only Jo-burg in the world, with or without the
apostrophe J
Another Interesting Read:
Facts about Johannesburg
1. Even
though Johannesburg is well over 120 years old (founded on 4 October 1886
during the gold rush), it is still one of the youngest major cities in the
world.
2. There is
only one other city on the continent that is bigger than Joburg, and that is
the bustling metropolis of Cairo in Egypt. Johannesburg is the second biggest
city on Africa.
3. The Chris
Hani-Baragwanath Hospital is the largest acute hospital in the world, with 2
964 beds, is the only public hospital serving the 3.5 million people in Soweto,
Johannesburg.
4. Johannesburg
is the world’s biggest man-made forest, with over 10 million trees. This number
is set to grow, as City Parks launched the Greening Soweto project in 2006,
with the goal of planting an extra 200 000 trees in the famous township. Not
only do Joburg’s trees combat the greenhouse effect, they help reduce noise in
this ‘urban jungle’.
5. Johannesburg
is the world's largest city not built on a coastline, or on a lake or river.
That’s why Joburg is also called the world’s biggest ‘dry port’. More than half
of the cargo that arrives through the ports of Durban and Cape Town arrives at
the container terminal at City Deep.
6. With the
rich archaeological site known as the Cradle of Humankind on the outskirts of
the city, it’s not surprising that 40% of the planet’s human ancestor fossils
have been discovered in the Jo’burg area.
7. At 269m
high, the Hillbrow Tower is the tallest structure in Johannesburg. It used to
have a revolving restaurant at the top, before it was closed down in 1981 for
safety reasons. It is a prominent feature in the city’s beautiful skyline.
8. The
Johannesburg Zoo based in Parktown, is over 100 years old, and houses the only
two polar bears in Africa – Geebee (who came from Canada) and Wang (who came
from Japan).
9. OR Tambo
International Airport in Johannesburg – named after the famous former leader of
the African National Congress – is the biggest and busiest airport on the
continent of Africa. It is estimated that 28 million passengers pass through
its terminals every year.
10. While
Johannesburg has a reputation as one of the most dangerous cities in the world,
it takes an average of only 60 seconds for police to respond to a crime scene
in the central business district (CBD). There is a CCTV system that covers
every street corner and scanning vehicle licence plates.
11. There is
also a Johannesburg in California, although it only has a population of 176
people (2000 census). It was named by miners who had worked in the gold mines
of Johannesburg, South Africa.
12. It takes
one-minute longer to boil an egg in Johannesburg than it does in the coastal
cities of Cape Town and Durban. This is because Joburg is 2000m above sea
level, and the air is not as dense.
13. The Shaft
of Terror, located at the popular amusement park of Gold Reef City, is a
vertical-drop roller coaster that has the distinction of being the tallest and
fastest roller coaster in Africa. It has a 47-metre drop, and a G force of over
6 Gs!
14. Johannesburg
is the home of Kwaito music, a catchy genre of African house music that was
born in the 90s and has become a South African phenomenon. It is most famous
for its catchy lyrics that embody post-apartheid township culture.
15. While
Johannesburg is also known as the City of Gold, or ‘eGoli’ because of its
beginnings as a gold-mining town, it is known fondly to locals by the shortened
‘Joburg’, or now more popularly as ‘Jozi’
