Soweto

Soweto is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa. It is the country's largest Black urban complex, with a population of approximately 1.3 million people. The townships constituting Soweto grew out of shantytowns and slums that arose with the arrival of Black labourers from rural areas. Soweto was created in the 1930s when the White government started separating Blacks from Whites, and it experienced civil unrest during the Apartheid regime. The area is known for its rich history, including the 1976 Soweto uprising, and has become a popular tourist destination. Soweto is also home to various townships, including Orlando, which was founded in 1931 and named after Edwin Orlando Leake, Mayor of Johannesburg from 1925 to 1926