Free State (province)
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Free State
| |
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Motto(s): Katleho ka kopano (Success through unity) | |
Coordinates: 28°S 27°E / 28°S 27°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Orange Free State | 17 February 1854 |
OFS Province | 31 May 1910 |
Free State | 27 April 1994 |
Capital | Bloemfontein |
Districts | |
Government | |
• Type | US$20.0 billion[6] |
HDI (2019) | 0.708[7] high · 4th of 9 |
Website | www |
Zulu | iFuleyisitata |
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Xhosa | iFreyistata |
Afrikaans | Vrystaat |
Sesotho | Freistata |
Setswana | Foreistata |
The Free State (
History
The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the
Law and government
The provincial government consists of a premier, an executive council of ten ministers, and a legislature. The provincial assembly and premier are elected for five-year terms, or until the next national election. Political parties are awarded assembly seats based on the percentage of votes each party receives in the province during the national elections. The assembly elects a premier, who then appoints the members of the executive council.
The provincial legislature meets at the
Geography
The Free State is situated on a succession of flat grassy plains sprinkled with pastureland, resting on a general elevation of 3,800 feet only broken by the occasional hill or
The province is high-lying, with almost all land being 1,000 metres above sea level. The
Fauna and flora
The flats in the south of the reserve provide ideal conditions for large herds of plain game such as
Climate
The Free State experiences a
- Bloemfontein averages: January maximum: 31 °C (min: 15 °C), July maximum: 17 °C (min: -2 °C), annual precipitation: 559 mm
- Bethlehemaverages: January maximum: 27 °C (min: 13 °C), July maximum: 16 °C (min: -2 °C), annual precipitation: 680 mm
Borders
In the southeast, the Free State borders seven districts of Lesotho:
- Mokhotlong – farthest to the east
- Butha-Buthe – northwest of Mokhotlong and northeast of Leribe
- Leribe – southwest of Butha-Buthe and northeast of Berea
- Berea – southwest of Leribe and north of Maseru
- Maseru – south of Berea and northeast of Mafeteng
- Mafeteng – southwest of Maseru and northwest of Mohale's Hoek
- Mohale's Hoek – southeast of Mafeteng
Domestically, it borders the following provinces:
- KwaZulu-Natal – east
- Eastern Cape – south
- Northern Cape – west
- North West – northwest
- Gauteng – north
- Mpumalanga – northeast
The Free State borders more districts of Lesotho and more provinces of South Africa than any other province.
It is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude.
Municipalities
The Free State Province is divided into one
Metropolitan municipalities
District municipalities
Major cities and towns
The Free State's major towns include:
- Botshabelo in Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality
- Virginia in Lejweleputswa
- Kroonstad, Sasolburg and Parys in Fezile Dabi
Health
The Free State is the only province in South Africa that operates a free 24-hour dedicated rotor-wing aeromedical service from a public hospital. They are able to reach far-flung areas in only 45 minutes and deliver a high level of care on scene. On 31 October 2018, Free State Emergency Medical Service launched an additional 65 road ambulances to augment the fleet.
The Free State has many public and private hospitals.
Economy
The province is the granary of South Africa, with agriculture central to its economy, while mining on the rich goldfields reef is its largest employer.
Agriculture
Agriculture dominates the Free State landscape, with cultivated land covering 32,000 square kilometres, and natural veld and grazing a further 87,000 square kilometres of the province. It is also South Africa's leader in the production of biofuels, or fuel from agricultural crops, with a number of ethanol plants under construction in the grain-producing western region. South Africa is one of the top ten Maize producers in the world (12,365,000 tons as of 2013[update]).
Field crops yield almost two-thirds of the gross agricultural income of the province. Animal products contribute a further 30%, with the balance generated by horticulture. Ninety percent of the country's cherry crop is produced in the Ficksburg district, which is also home to the country's two largest asparagus canning factories. Soya, sorghum, sunflowers and wheat are cultivated in the eastern Free State, where farmers specialise in seed production. About 40% of the country's potato yield comes from the province's high-lying areas.
The main vegetable crop is asparagus, both white and green varieties. Although horticulture is expanding and becoming increasingly export-orientated, most produce leaves the province unprocessed.
The Free State's advantage in floriculture is the opposing seasons of the southern and northern hemispheres.
Mining
The Free State is also rich in mineral wealth, gold representing 20% of the world's total gold production. Mining is the province's major employer. The province has 12 gold mines, producing 30% of South Africa's output and making it the fifth-largest producer of gold in the world. The Harmony Gold Refinery and Rand Refinery are the only two gold refineries in South Africa.
Gold mines in the Free State also supply a substantial portion of the total silver produced in the country, while considerable concentrations of uranium occurring in the gold-bearing conglomerates of the goldfields are extracted as a byproduct.
Bituminous coal is also mined, and converted to petrochemicals at Sasolburg. The Free State also produces high-quality diamonds from its kimberlite pipes and fissures, and the country's largest deposit of bentonite is found in the Koppies district.
Industry
Since 1989, the Free State economy has moved from dependence on primary sectors such as mining and agriculture to an economy increasingly oriented towards manufacturing and export. Some 14% of the province's manufacturing is classified as being in high-technology industries – the highest of all provincial economies. The northern Free State's chemicals sector is one of the most important in the southern hemisphere. Petrochemicals company Sasol, based in the town of Sasolburg, is a world leader in the production of fuels, waxes, chemicals and low-cost feedstock from coal.
Tourism
In the northeastern Free State, nestled in the rolling foothills of the Maluti mountains, the Golden Gate Highlands National Park is the province's prime tourist attraction. The park gets its name from the brilliant shades of gold cast by the sun on the spectacular sandstone cliffs, especially the imposing Brandwag or Sentinel Rock, which keeps vigil over the park.
The sandstone of this region has been used for the lovely dressed-stone buildings found on the Eastern Highlands, while decoratively painted
.Demographics
Ethnicity
The majority of the population are black Africans who speak Sotho as a first language. The vast majority of white people in the Free State are Afrikaans-speaking. In 1880 the white population made up 45.7% of the total population. In 1904 this had fallen to 36.8%.[11] Of the 142,679 people in 1904, only 60% were born in the province. Of the 2,726 European immigrants born in non-British states, 1,025 came from the Russian Empire, mainly Jews. In 1904 whites made up a majority in most settlements, namely Ficksburg (52.3%), Wepener (60.2%), Ladybrand (60.0%), and Kroonstad (51.6%), and made up a substantial minority in Bloemfontein (45.7%) and Winburg (36.3%).
Education
Universities
- University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, Phuthaditjhaba)
- Central University of Technology (Bloemfontein, Welkom)
Other educational institutions
- Akademia (Bloemfontein)
- Boston City Campus (Bloemfontein)
- Damelin (Bloemfontein)
- Flavius Mareka FET College (Kroonstad, Mphohardi, Sasolburg)
- Goldfields FET College (Welkom, Tosa)
- Maluti TVET College (QwaQwa, Bethlehem, Harrismith)
- Thaba nchu, Koffiefontein)
- Qualitas Career Academy (Bloemfontein)
Media
Newspapers
- Die Volksblad (Bloemfontein)
- Bloem news (Bloemfontein)
- Bloemfontein Courant
- Dumelang News (The People's Paper)
- Thaba Nchu)
- Free State Times
- Vista Newspaper (Welkom)
- VrystaatKroon
Radio
Sports
Provincial sport teams
- Soccer
- African Warriors (Phuthaditjhaba)
- Carara Kicks F.C. (Welkom)
- Bloemfontein Celtic (Bloemfontein)(now has been sold)
- Bethlehem)
- Roses United
- Bloemfontein Young Tigers
- Rugby
- Currie Cup:
- Free State Cheetahs (Bloemfontein)
- Griffons (Welkom)
- Cricket
See also
- List of speakers of the Free State Provincial Legislature
References
- ^ https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/download/file/fid/2889.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ ISBN 9780621413885. Archived(PDF) from the original on 13 May 2015.
- ^ "Taking the measure of Namahadi Peak" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
- ^ https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/download/file/fid/2889.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/download/file/fid/2889.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ "Provincial gross domestic product:experimental estimates, 2013–2022" (PDF), www.statssa.gov.za
- ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "Mxolisi Dukwana elected Free State premier". SowetanLIVE. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "Cheetahs Return to Laohu Valley Reserve & The Free State". Savechinastigers.org. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- ^ Jens Friis (2 March 2017). "First Wild Cheetahs Born in Free State in Over A Century". Netwerk24. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- ^ Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 152. . In
External links
- Free State Provincial Government
- Free State Tourism Authority
- Cana, Frank Richardson (1922). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 31 (12th ed.). p. 1177. .