Free State (province)
Free State ( Sesotho: Foreistata, Vrystaat Afrikaans, English Free State ) is a South African province in the center of the republic. It formed from 1854 to 1995 the Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic from 1854 to 1910 and was united after the Second Boer War with the rest of the country for the Union of South Africa. It is divided into five districts with 20 municipalities.
- 3.1 Orange Free State
- 3.2 List of Prime
Geography
Free State lies in the central plains of South Africa and is dominated by agriculture. About 30,000 farms produce more than 70 % of South African agricultural products. In addition, some of the richest gold and diamond mines in the world are located in the Free State.
In the southeast, bordering the Free State in Lesotho.
Districts
The Free State Province is divided into five districts, each divided into three to five municipalities ( 20 in total). The five districts are:
- Xhariep in the south
- Motheo in the southeast
- Lejweleputswa in the northwest
- Thabo Mofutsanyane in the East
- Fezile Dabi ( Northern Free State ) in the north
Cities
The biggest cities of the province are Welkom, the capital of Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Virginia, Kutlwanong ( at Welkom ) and Kroonstad.
Parks and Nature Reserves
- Caledon Nature Reserve
- Erfenis Dam Nature Reserve
- Gariep Dam Nature Reserve
- Golden Gate Highlands National Park
- Kalkfontein Nature Reserve
- Koppies Dam Nature Reserve
- Seekoeivlei Nature Reserve
- Chicks - the -Riviere Nature Reserve
- Tweefontein Nature Reserve
- Willem Pretorius Game Reserve
Population and languages
According to the results of the census of 2001, 88 % of the black population counted to 8.8% whites, 3.1% people of color ( Afrikaans: Kleurlinge, English: Coloureds ) and 0.1% Indians and Asians. The low percentage of Asians is because denied in the Free State during the apartheid Asians to grasp.
Sesotho gave 64.4 % of the population as a first language, Afrikaans 11.9%, IsiXhosa 9.1%, Setswana 6.8%, 5.1% IsiZulu, English 1.4%, 0.4 % isiNdebele. Traffic language is usually English or mixed with related languages Sesotho. In addition to the white man generally speaking, the colored Afrikaans as their mother tongue.
History
Orange Free State
After the Cape Colony had come under British rule, the Boers feared for their cultural identity and tried in the Great Trek to colonize further inland lying areas, including the area between the Orange and Vaal. The Afrikaners, as the Boers called himself founded several independent Boer republics in the interior. One of them was the Orange Free State ( Oranje Vrystaat ).
This area was annexed in 1848 by Great Britain, but was in 1854 under the name of the Orange Free State ( Dutch " Oranje Vrijstaat " afrikaans " Oranje Vrystaat " ) to achieve its independence. From the very beginning the Republic under pressure from both Britain and the neighboring Basotho, with which it is their ruler Moshoeshoe I. were frequent incidents (see Lesotho # History ).
After the Second Boer War, the Orange Free State in 1900 was finally annexed and 1910 British province of the Union of South Africa. Name, territory and capital remained unchanged. In the 1960s, the black population were separated by the provincial territory as a measure of the South African apartheid policy tribal areas. It created the Homeland QwaQwa and part of the homelands Bophuthatswana. 1994, these areas were reintegrated in the province.
In 1995, the province name was shortened to the Free State.
List of Prime
- Gerard Patrick Lekota Mosiuoa (ANC, May 11, 1994 to December 18, 1996 )
- Ivy Matsepe - Casaburri (ANC, December 18, 1996 to June 15, 1999 )
- Winkie Direko (ANC, June 15, 1999 to April 26, 2004 )
- Frances Beatrice Mars Hoff ( ANC, April 26, 2004)