Pretoria, city in northeastern South Africa, located in Gauteng Province. The administrative capital of South Africa, Pretoria is one of three national capitals along with Cape Town (the legislative capital) and Bloemfontein (the judicial capital). The city is situated on both banks of the Apies River and extends east into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Most of Pretoria's labor force works in administration and services related to the government. The city also has a major iron and steel industry as well as engineering, food processing, ceramics, and chemical industries. Highways connect Pretoria to the major northern South African cities, and railways connect the city to Mozambique in the east, Zimbabwe in the northeast, and the South African city of Johannesburg in the southwest.
Pretoria's city center is laid out in a grid, and skyscrapers surround the central Church Square. The city is spacious with a number of large parks, including the National Zoological Gardens in the north. Pretoria's many historic buildings include Melrose House (1886), where the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed at the end of the Boer War (1899-1902); the Raadzaal (council chamber); the Palace of Justice; and the home of Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic (Afrikaner republic in the Transvaal region) from 1883 to 1902. The Union Buildings (built between 1910 and 1913), which house South Africa's parliament for half the year, were designed by British architect Sir Herbert Baker.
