The discovery of this enchanting mineral hidden below the plains of the highveld sparked off one of the fastest urban developments of the modern era. In just over a century, the ramshackle congregation of prospectors' tents and crude digging devices near the farm of Langlaagte has spread for more than 30 kilometres in each direction into a metropolis of skyscrapers. The Johannesburg of today is a modern version of its inauspicious but frantic beginnings. It is the technological and financial forerunner of Africa, South Africa's pemier business destination and home, including Soweto, to more than five million people. Built on and maintained by the ancient ground it covers, Johannesburg is the prince of the subcontinent.