In 1860, Indians settlers landed in South Africa to work as laborers in the expanding sugar industry. Durban is now home to the single largest group of people of Indian descent outside of India. Hardworking and industrious, they have contributed hugely to the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country. Mahatma Gandhi spent his early years here, and formed his political opinions in South Africa as a result of the way he was treated at the hands of the government. In the apartheid era, Indians were also viewed as "second-class" citizens and suffered the same injustices that were meted out to black South Africans.