Introduction
Photograph:The city of Bloemfontein is the judicial capital of South Africa.
* The city of Bloemfontein is the judicial capital of South Africa.
Because South Africa's highest court meets there, the city of Bloemfontein is known as the country's judicial capital. (Pretoria and Cape Town are the country's other capitals.) Bloemfontein is also the capital of the nation's Free State province, formerly known as Orange Free State. The city's name means “fountain of flowers,” and it is known for its parks and botanical gardens.
Places of interest
The oldest building in Bloemfontein is the Orange Free State's first Raadsaal, or Parliament, which has a roof of thatch (grass). The town's National Afrikaans Literary Museum and Research Center is a monument to the achievements of Afrikaans authors. (Afrikaners, formerly known as Boers, are descendants of Dutch immigrants to South Africa.) The National Museum is notable for its collection of remains of early humans who lived in the area. In the Franklin Game Reserve, many large African animals are sheltered.
Economy
Because it is centrally located, between Cape Town and Johannesburg, Bloemfontein is an important South African transportation center. The city benefited from the opening of gold mines in Orange Free State in 1948. Many of its workers are employed by the government or by the tourist industry.
History
In 1846, as the British pushed into South Africa, Bloemfontein was founded as a fort and settlement by an army officer named H. Douglas Warden. In 1848 the town became headquarters for a British colony called Orange River Sovereignty. In 1854 the British pulled back, and the Boers (descendents of Dutch settlers) took control. Bloemfontein became the capital of a new Boer republic called Orange Free State.
In 1899, the city hosted a peace conference between the British and the Boers, who were battling for control of the larger South Africa region. When the conference failed, the stage was set for the Boer War. The British captured Bloemfontein in 1900 and won the war two years later. In 1910, the Union of South Africa was born. The Orange Free State became a province of the newly independent country. Bloemfontein became the judicial capital, and remained so when the union became a republic in 1961. Bloemfontein was absorbed into the larger municipality of Manguang in December 2000. Population (1996 estimate), 333,769.
