Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including Bronkhorstspruit, Centurion, Cullinan, Hammanskraal and Soshanguve.

The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic can be seen as marking the end of the Boers' settlement movements of the Great Trek.

The city surrendered to British forces under Frederick Roberts on 5 June 1900 and the conflict was ended in Pretoria with the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902 at Melrose House.

It lies at an altitude of about 1,339 m (4,393 ft) above sea level,[13] in a warm, sheltered, fertile valley, surrounded by the hills of the Magaliesberg range.

Pretoria has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) with long hot, rainy summers, and short, dry and mild winters.

The city experiences the typical winters of South Africa, with cold, clear nights and mild to moderately warm days.

Similar record-breaking extreme heat events also occurred in January 2013, when Pretoria experienced temperatures exceeding 37 °C (99 °F) on several days.

Some of the notable structures in Pretoria include the late 19th century Palace of Justice, the early 20th century Union Buildings, the post-war Voortrekker Monument, the diverse buildings dotting the main campuses of both the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa, traditional Cape Dutch style Mahlamba Ndlopfu (the President's House), the Neo-Byzantine Old Synagogue, the more modern Reserve Bank of South Africa (office skyscraper) and the Telkom Lukasrand Tower.

At the end of the 19th century, the flower and tree grower James Clark imported jacaranda seedlings from Australia and began growing them on a large scale.

The routes, originating from the city centre, extend south to Germiston and Johannesburg, west to Atteridgeville, northwest to Ga-Rankuwa, north to Soshanguve and east to Mamelodi.

[26] The Gautrain high-speed railway line runs from the eastern suburb of Hatfield to Pretoria Station and then southwards to Centurion, Midrand, Marlboro, Sandton, Rhodesfield, OR Tambo International Airport, Rosebank and Johannesburg.

Rovos Rail,[27] a luxury mainline train safari service operates from the colonial-style railway station at Capital Park.

There is a third, original east–west road: the R104, previously named Church Street, also from eMalahleni in the east through Pretoria to Hartbeespoort and Rustenburg in the west.

At the Brakfontein interchange in Centurion, the Ben Schoeman Freeway becomes the N1 to Johannesburg, and the N14 continues as the intersecting west-south-westerly highway towards Krugersdorp.

Since Pretoria forms part the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, most radio, television and paper media is the same as the rest of the metro area.

There are many radio stations in the greater Pretoria region, some of note are: Jacaranda FM, previously known as Jacaranda 94.2, is a commercial South African radio station, broadcasting in English and Afrikaans, with a footprint that covers Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West Province and boasts a listening audience of 2 million people a week, and a digital community of more than 1,1 million people a month.

These include Desmond and the Tutus, Bittereinder, The Black Cat Bones, Seether, popular mostwako rapper JR, Joshua na die Reën and DJ Mujava who was raised in the town of Attridgeville.

"[37] The opening line of John Lennon's Beatles' song I Am the Walrus, "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together", is often believed to be based on the lyric "I'm with you and you're with me and so we are all together"[38] in "Marching to Pretoria".

A diverse and evolving city, Pretoria boasts a vibrant art scene and a variety of works that range from sculptures to murals to pieces by internationally and locally renowned artists.

After a bequest of 17th century Dutch artworks by Lady Michaelis in 1932 the art collection of Pretoria City Council expanded quickly to include South African works by Henk Pierneef, Pieter Wenning, Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw and Irma Stern.

The most local franchise team to Pretoria is the Titans, although Northerns occasionally play in the city in South Africa's provincial competitions.

Many Pretoria born cricketers have gone on to play for South Africa, including former international captains AB de Villiers Faf du Plessis.

A Mr. De Vries, the first Jewish inhabitant of Pretoria, was a prominent citizen and prosecutor, a member of the Volksraad and a pioneer of the Afrikaans language.

Other early Jewish settlers, many of them immigrants from Lithuania, were not as educated as De Vries and often did not speak Dutch, Afrikaans, or English.

The Old Synagogue on Paul Kruger Street was purchased by the government in 1952 to become the new home of the High Court where prominent opposition figures in the Anti-Apartheid Movement were tried, including Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and 26 others were prosecuted for treason from 1 August 1958 to 29 March 1961; the Rivonia Trial was held there in 1963–1964.

Pretoria's Reformed congregation shares a rabbi with the Johannesburg one, though the synagogue no longer operates and services take place in worshippers' private homes.

[63][64] Since 1997, the university has produced more research outputs every year than any other institution of higher learning in South Africa, as measured by the Department of Education's accreditation benchmark.

The South African Defence Intelligence College is also located in the Sterrewag Suburb north of Air Force Base Waterkloof.

After refusing to abide by the ASA's request, the Metro Council was banned from placing any advertisements in the South African media that refer to the capital as Tshwane.

[84][85] The retraction had reportedly been ordered at the behest of the Deputy President of South Africa Kgalema Motlanthe, acting on behalf of President Jacob Zuma, as minister of Arts and Culture Lulu Xingwana had acted contrary to the position of the ANC, which is that Pretoria and the municipality are separate entities, which was subsequently articulated by ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe.