Facts & History

BLOEMFONTEIN (ALSO CALLED MANGAUNG)

Fast Facts

• Population 850,000
• Mangaung means “place of the cheetahs” in SeSotho
• Bloemfontein means “fountain of flowers” in Dutch
• Sixth largest city in South Africa
• Provincial capital of the Free State Province

History

• The Barolong tribe settled in the area around Thaba Nchu in the early 1830s
• In the late 1800s the Free State became home to the Basotho tribe
• The area became a safe haven for tribes fleeing King of the Zulus, Shaka Zulu
• Dutch and English settlers initially founded Bloemfontein in the mid 1800s
• Mangaung/Bloemfontein has been the judicial capital of South Africa since 1910

Activities and Points of Interest

• The National Museum – houses an extensive collection of fossils and archaeological artifacts
• Queen’s Military Museum – the Old Fort was built in 1848
• National Women’s Memorial and Anglo-Boer War Museum – the monument is dedicated to the memory of women and children who died in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1904)

Free State Stadium

• Capacity 48,000