Johannesburg to London

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South Africa
Johannesburg

Johannesburg - The Beating Heart of Africa

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Botswana
Makgadikgadi

Botswana and Makgadikgadi Salt Pans

45 mins
644 km
Zambezi River
Zambia

Zambezi

2hrs
1,610 km
DRC
River Congo

The River Congo Basin

4hrs
3,280 km
Chad
Bodélé

The Bodélé Depression - the "dustiest place on earth".

5hrs 50mins
4,828 km
Chad
The Tibesti

The Volcanic TIbesti Mountain Range.

6hrs 30mins
5,311 km
Libya
Mega-Fezzan

The Fezzan region and Lake Mega-fezzan

7hrs 30mins
6,143 km
Tunis to
Tripoli

The Coastline from Tunis to Tripoli

8hrs 5mins
6,598 km
Corsica and
Sardinia

The islands of Corsica and Sardinia

9hrs 20mins
7,677 km
The European
Alps

The European Alps

10 hrs
8,208 km
The English
Channel

The English Channel

10hrs 45mins
8,884 km
London
UK

London, capital city of the United Kingdom

9hrs 35mins
7,517 km

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Johannesburg - The Beating Heart of Africa

Over 12 main languages are spoken in Johannesburg.

73% of Jo’burg’s population is Black African.

South Africa is the world’s largest producer of gold and platinum.

Johannesburg was the host city for the FIFA 2010 South Africa World Cup.

Half of the world's gold ever produced is from South Africa.

Johannesburg is the second richest city in Africa after Cairo.

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Flying at 13,000m - Johannesburg and the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Nelson Mandela Bridge in modern Johannesburg.

The once squalid township of Soweto has been revived thanks to the World Cup.

Construction work in progress at Soccer City in preperation for FIFA 2010.

The Soweto township in Johannesburg.

The famous cooling towers of Soweto are decorated to welcome the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Inside Ellis Park Football Stadium - one of the venues for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Huge crowds of South African fans gathered in Johannesburg to watch the matches during the World Cup.

Ellis Park Stadium (with the red roof) and part of the Johannesburg Stadium in the foreground.

RGS Archive image

Map of South Africa before Livingstone's explorations in the mid 19th Century.

RGS Archive image

Map of South Africa after Livingstone's explorations in the mid 19th Century.

Soccer City, Johannesburg, where the opening and closing ceremony will be held.

Johannesburg from the air.

South African fans in Soweto watching the match on a big screen. Most of Soweto's residents could not afford tickets to watch the live games.

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Flying at 1,000m - Johannesburg, The "Beating Heart of Africa"

1985 - A young golfer practices his swing in Alexandra, Johannesburg.

RGS Archive image

1844 - James Wyld's (Geographer to the Queen) map of Southern Africa and how the land was divided.

The Skyline of the Johannesburg Business District.

Johannesburg's skyline.

The scars of open cast mining in Johannesburg.

RGS Archive image

1912 - Bacon's map of Southern Africa and how the land was divided.

Glen Douglas Dolomite Mine in Gauteng south of Johannesburg.

Cullinan Diamond Mine, northeast of Johannesburg.

1973 - Black goldminers and their white supervisor in a mine near Johannesburg.

The Anglo-Boer War Memorial in Johannesburg.

A gold smelter in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg from the air.

Aerial shot of Johannesburg and the Guateng region.

1911 - A suburban gold mine in Transvall north east of Jo'Burg.

RGS Archive image

A map showing Bechanauland (British, now Botswana), Orange Free State (Boer) and Griqualand (Multiracial) territories.

Bass Lake in an open mine in Meyerton, south of Johannesburg.

RGS Archive image

1885 - A map showing the south west frontier between the Boer Orange Free State and British States.

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Flying at ground level - Johannesburg's Townships

A typical alley in Soweto.

1990 - Nelson Mandela adresses and anti-apartheid conference at the UN.

Klipton - one of Johannesburg's poorest areas.

The two cooling towers of the Orlando power station dominate the Soweto landscape.

A 'white only' beach during apartheid; no dogs and no non-whites allowed.

Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto.

RGS Archive image

A 1905 map of Zululand - where a large majority of of the township's population came from.

1st January 1985 - Township houses in Soweto.

An all-male work hostel in Soweto; conditions were widely considered unfit for human habitation.

Children of Soweto; 'amandla' is the Zulu word for power.

1985 - South African police patrol Alexandra Township in Johannesburg.

1985 - Cramped conditions in a squatter camp for those who can not find a house in a township.

Soweto, Johannesburg's largest township.

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© 2013 Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)