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Bloemfontein is the judicial capital of South Africa, the provincial capital of the Free State and the largest urban centre in the Mangaung Local Municipality.
Bloemfontein is popularly known as "the city of roses", owing to the abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there.
Mangaung Local Municipality – which comprises the areas Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu – covers more than 6 300 km2 and hosts a population of more than 850 000 people (about 23% of the Free State's population). The name Mangaung means “place of the cheetahs”.
The Free State lies between the Vaal River in the north and the Orange River in the south. This province lies central on the interior plateau of South Africa and is characterized by its grass plains and dolerite hills. On the south eastern border are the mountains of Lesotho. The eastern highlands of the Free State is well known for its beautiful sandstone formations in yellow, brown, orange and pink. Some of South Africa’s most valued San rock paintings are found in the Free State.Bloemfontein is the capital of the Free State. It also houses the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa. Other urban centres are Bethlehem, Harrismith, Kroonstad, Parys, Phuthaditjhaba and Sasolburg. The population of 2, 8 million mainly speaks Sesotho, Afrikaans and IsiXhosa.The Free State is the fifth largest gold producing region in the world. Silver, uranium, coal, diamonds and bentonite are also mined. Maize, wheat, soya, sorghum, sunflowers, cherries, asparagus and potatoes are produced in the Free State, while the sweet grasslands sustain more than 15 million sheep. Petroleum is manufactured from bituminous coal at Sasolburg. A wide variety of industries have developed around the production of chemicals from coal.The Free State is in the summer rainfall region of South Africa. Bloemfontein receives 559 mm rain annually. The summers are temperate to warm, and the winters are dry and sunny, but the winter nights are cold.
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