At the 1991 census the city of Johannesburg had a population of 712,507. The population of the Johannesburg urban agglomeration was estimated at 2.2 million people in 1996. The population of Soweto alone was 596,632 in 1991 . About two-thirds of the metropolitan area population is black. Whites account for about a quarter, and most of the rest are Coloured or Asian, primarily of Indian ancestry. The black population is growing the fastest as a result of high rates of natural increase and influx from the rest of the country, especially since the repeal of apartheid laws restricting black movement. The black population includes all the country's major black ethnolinguistic groups, such as Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, and Sotho people. Whites and Coloureds speak English or Afrikaans, and today most Asians speak English as their first language. Portuguese people also make up a substantial minority. Christians of various denominations make up the largest religious group, but most Asians are Hindu or Muslim.
In the closing years of apartheid, the residential geography of Johannesburg began to change rapidly as segregation laws were changed or less rigidly enforced. Many blacks began to move to formerly white neighborhoods, and by the early 1990s Johannesburg was the most racially integrated city in South Africa. In inner-city areas such as Hillbrow, the influx of relatively poor blacks living in overcrowded conditions has resulted in many whites moving to the suburbs. More commonly, however, whites and others are living in the same neighborhoods without overt conflict. Desegregation has progressed furthest in lower-income white suburbs.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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