Bloemfontein, the "city of roses" and Boer stronghold, is capital of the Free State and its economic and cultural center. As the seat of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court it is also South Africa's judicial capital. Thanks to its central situation it has developed into a hub of road and rail traffic, with the largest
railroad workshops in the country. It is a university town (university founded 1855) and above all an administrative center: over 40% of the employed population work in state, semi-state or social organizations and other offices. Apart from this the main contribution is made to the town's economy by light industry (furniture, glass, foodstuffs).
Bloemfontein lies in the central plain of the highveld, a semi-arid region, with Naval Hill rising above it to the northeast. Predominantly a modern city, with a number of historic buildings, monuments and museums, it is a good center from which to explore the Free State and a convenient stopover on a journey between the Cape and the adjoining provinces. It is not a place for a long stay.
The Bloemfontein Rose Festival is held annually in the third week in October.
The J. B.M. Hertzog Airport, 8km/5mi east of the city, has regular flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town. There is no bus service between the airport and the city, but many car rental firms have desks at the airport and there are also taxis. The railroad station is in Maitland. The first large voortrekker encampment north of the Orange River was established about 1836 near the present-day settlement of Thaba'Nchu. In 1840, a little to the west, a Boer named Johannes Brits built a farm which he called Bloemfontein ("Flower Fountain") after a nearby spring surrounded by a profusion of flowers. A year later the British authorities bought his farm for £37 and established a garrison and an administrative center on the site. Bloemfontein developed into a small town, which in 1854 became capital of the newly founded Orange Free State, then with a population of just 12,000. It now extended from the banks of the Bloemspruits River to the Bloemfonteinberg (Naval Hill), northeast of the town. During the Boer War there was hard fighting for possession of Bloemfontein, and the town was bombarded by British artillery on the Bloemfonteinberg. After the establishment of the Union of South Africa Bloemfontein became the third capital of the country, after Pretoria and Cape Town.
The discovery of gold in the Welkom-Odendaalsrus-Virginia area in 1946, large deposits ranking with those of the Witwatersrand among the richest in the world, brought an economic boom to the Orange Free State and to Bloemfontein.
Ironically, this Boer stronghold was also the birthplace of the African National Congress. Leaders of the black population met here in 1912 to protest against the establishment of the Union of South Africa, which denied them the vote, and founded the South African Native National Congress, predecessor of the ANC.
Bloemfontein was the birthplace of the writer J. R. R. Tolkien, though he spent only the first four years of his life here. He died in Bournemouth, England.
Bloemfontein fully justifies its name of "Flower Fountain", with numerous parks and gardens encircling the city center. The main business and shopping street is Maitland Street, which runs west into President Brand Street.
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