The urban suburb of Hatfield is situated just to the East of the centre of Pretoria and is handy for anyone with business in the City, which is the administrative capital of South Africa. In the Arcadia Park to the West is situated the city's Art Museum. Hatfield is within walking distance of the University of Pretoria Sports Grounds and close to Loftus Sports Stadium. Hatfield is handy for Pretoria Girls and Pretoria Boys High Schools.

Pretoria itself was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius, a leader of the Voortrekkers, who named it after his father Andries Pretorius. During the First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty, which ended the was, was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the Pretoria Convention. Pretoria achieved official city status in 1931. The suburb of Arcadia is handy for most of the foreign embassies housed in the city.