Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein is a major city in South Africa. It serves as the capital of the Free State province. Many people call it "Central South Africa" because of its location in the middle of the country.

The city is part of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. This larger area has a population of 747,431 residents. The city itself had 256,185 residents as of 2011. It is often called the "city of roses." This name comes from the many flowers there and an annual rose festival.

The city is a vital center for law and science. It hosts the Supreme Court of Appeal. For many years, it was known as the judicial capital of South Africa. While the Constitutional Court moved to Johannesburg in 1994, Bloemfontein remains a legal hub. The city is also a place for astronomical research. It contains the Boyden Observatory. It also features the Naval Hill Planetarium. This was the first digital planetarium in the southern hemisphere.

Bloemfontein has a complex history involving many different groups. It was once a settlement for the !Orana and Barolong peoples. It was also a Boer settlement. In 1846, a British Army major named Henry Douglas Warden founded the city as a fort. He chose the site because it was near the route to Winburg. He also liked the spacious, open country. The name Bloemfontein might mean "Bloem's fountain." This name may honor a Griqua leader named Jan Bloem II.

Significant changes occurred during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1890, a railway connected the city to Cape Town. This line was very important for the British during later conflicts. In 1899, leaders held the Bloemfontein Conference. They hoped to prevent the Second Boer War, but the meeting failed. The war began in October 1899. The British captured the city in March 1900. Following the Battle of Paardeberg, they built a concentration camp nearby.

To honor those who died during the war, the National Women's Monument was built in 1913. This monument commemorates Boer civilians who died in camps. In 1910, the Union of South Africa was formed. Bloemfontein became the judicial capital as part of a compromise. This allowed the city to host the Appellate Division. In 1912, the South African Native National Congress was founded here. This group fought for the rights of black South Africans.

During the apartheid era from 1948 to 1994, the city experienced strict racial segregation. The government used laws like the Group Areas Act of 1950 to separate people. The municipality demolished the Cape Stands area. This moved the Coloured population to Heidedal. The government also built new areas for black residents. These areas, known as Mangaung, included townships like Phahameng. Physical buffers like roads and railways were used to separate different ethnic groups.

To manage the growing population, the government expanded the area. They added Botshabelo, which was 55 km to the east, in 1979. This was done to create a source of cheap labor. Many people had to commute daily between Botshabelo and Bloemfontein. By 1988, about 14,500 people made this trip every day. This meant 55% of the Botshabelo workforce worked outside their own town.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the city has changed again. Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, and Thaba Nchu became part of the Motheo District Municipality. In 2011, Mangaung became an autonomous metropolitan municipality. The city is now a busy center for administration and education. It also hosts many private hospitals. In 2010, Bloemfontein was a host city for the FIFA World Cup.