Johannesburg is one of the youngest major cities in the world. It is 118 years old, and was founded on October 4, 1886 In the space of a century, it has been rebuilt four times: first it was a tented camp; then a town of tin shanties; then of four-storey Edwardian brick buildings; then a city of modern skyscrapers Johannesburg houses the tallest office block in Africa, the Carlton Centre (50 stories) and the tallest tower, the Hillbrow Tower (270 metres, or 90 stories). Johannesburg is nicknamed Egoli, which means "place of gold". Forty percent of the world's gold has been found here The altitude is 2 000m above sea level. The air is thinner, and eggs take an extra minute to boil There are over 10 million trees in Johannesburg (2.5 million in parks and pavements, and 7.5 million in private homes) Johannesburg's residents earn between them a total income of R28 billion per annum. The city enjoys an average of twelve hours of sunlight a day Forty percent of the population is under the age of 24 There are approximately 145 000 street lights There are 1 854 traffic lights There are 35 cemeteries and 2 crematoria There are 7 519km of roads in Johannesburg, of which only 905km is not tarred There are 510 buses, which operate on 88 routes and transport 29 million passengers every year There are 33 water towers and 87 reservoirs There are 9 500km of water pipes There are 9 800km of sewerage pipes The city has two active power stations, capable of generating 600mw (megawatts). The average travel time for commuters is 48 minutes There are 1 569ha of nature reserves in the city There are 12 river systems that run throughout the city Forty percent of all the world's human ancestor fossils have been found in areas adjoining the city Johannesburg has about 150 heritage sites, half of which are national monuments Johannesburg houses the only two polar bears in Africa, at the Johannesburg Zoo There are 4 443ha of open veld There are 1 616 parks There are 24,6ha of bird sanctuaries There are 107km of nature trails There are 80ha of botanical gardens There are 106 dams There are 394 public sports facilities There are 35 public recreation centres There are 39 public swimming pools There are 250 community health clinics The city collects 1.1 million tons of garbage each year Of this, 244 200 is in the form of illegal dumping, and 1 779 tons is litter from the streets Thirteen percent of the city's waste is recycled Ninety percent of the city's people have to walk less than 1km to access their modes of transport Traffic congestion has increased by 26 percent since 1999 (Source: Integrated Development Plan) Over 10 000 people buy fresh fruit and vegetables each day at the Fresh Produce Market, some from as far away as Botswana and Angola, arriving in 5 500 vehicles each day. Demographics Did you know: Johannesburg's population is 3.2 million (Census 2001). Johanesburg's residents earn between them a total income of R28 billion per annum. Read more Joburg's firsts Johannesburg was first in the country with a number of things: first paying gold, first motor car, first movie . . . but it was first with a number of other less significant but intriguing things too Read more