Highveld inland hub linking southern African rail, air, and mineral corridors rather than a maritime chokepoint.

Gauteng's core metropolis and a magnet for regional migration.

Africa's most sophisticated financial center (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) and corporate headquarters cluster.

Limited external-command role; security issues are more domestic than expeditionary.

Economic power without being the executive capital (Pretoria) or legislative capital (Cape Town).

Religiously mixed, with major Christian and other communities of regional rather than global primacy.

Gold-rush city that became the economic engine of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa.