AfricaSouth AfricaFree State
Bloemfontein
Free State, South Africa · Africa
About Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein sits on the route: 50 minutes from Ikgomotseng.
Bloemfontein is in Free State, South Africa, with about 560,000 people. You drive on the left here. The nearest town is Ikgomotseng, about 44 km away.
Bloemfontein ( BLOOM-fon-tayn; Afrikaans: [ˈblumfɔntəin]), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", as it hosts the Supreme Court of Appeal, alongside the legislativeRead more
capital Cape Town and executive capital Pretoria. However, the highest court in South Africa, the Constitutional Court, has been in Johannesburg since 1994.
Situated at an elevation of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level, the city of 256,185 residents (as of 2011) has Mangaung as its municipality, which has a population of 747,431.
The city of Bloemfontein contains the Franklin Game Reserve, Naval Hill, the Maselspoort Resort and the Sand du Plessis Theatre. The city hosts numerous museums, including the National Women's Monument, the Anglo-Boer War Museum, the National Museum, and the Oliewenhuis Art Museum. Bloemfontein also hosts the first digital planetarium in the southern hemisphere, the Naval Hill Planetarium, and Boyden Observatory, an astronomical research observatory.
Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses" for its abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. The city is situated in the middle of the country; hence it is referred to as "Central South Africa". The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs". It was one of the host cities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Bloemfontein?
Bloemfontein is in Free State, South Africa, about 44 km from Ikgomotseng.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 556,637
- Continent
- Africa
- Country
- South Africa
- Region
- Free State
- Timezone
- Africa/Johannesburg
- Coordinates
- -29.1211, 26.2140
Emergency & Services
Essential numbers in South Africa
112 works from mobiles. Avoid driving at night in rural areas; keep doors locked in cities.
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