SOWETO, Johannesburg, South Africa

Soweto, the most highly populated black urban residential area in Africa, which according to Census 2001 puts its population at 896, 995, is the most metropolitan township in the country due to its close proximity to Johannesburg. Since its inception, the perpetual problems of Soweto have included overcrowded housing conditions, inadequate infrastructure as well as an extremely high unemployment rate. The township itself was a product of segregationist planning during the apartheid.
In 1904, Klipspruit, the oldest of a cluster of townships that make up Soweto, was established to house mainly black laborers, who worked in mines and other industries in the city, away from the city center due to the fact that the inner city was reserved for white occupation only.

It was not until a four-year public competition was held to come up with an appropriate name for the sprawling township. The winner, SOWETO, an acronym for SOuth WEstern TOwnship, was adopted as the official name for the area in 1963.