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Bloemfontein, Afrikaans and Dutch for "spring of Bloem (bloom)" or "flower spring" is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa. The city's Sotho name is Mangaung, meaning "the place where cheetahs dwell". Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses", owing to the abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. Although Bloemfontein has a reputation for its flowers in an otherwise arid region, the city's name is alleged by some to refer to Jan Bloem (1775-1858), a Korana Griqua leader whose people inhabited (and still inhabit) parts of the Free State and Northern Cape. Others see this proposition as a conceit, a manifestation of political correctness and a retrospective reconstruction of history, since the British Colonial Authorities typically did not name places after indigenous people. The city is situated on dry grassland at 29¡Æ06¡ÇS, 26¡Æ13¡ÇE, at an altitude of 1,395 metres above sea level. The city is home to 369,568 residents, while the Mangaung Local Municipality has a population of 645,455. Bloemfontein is served by Bloemfontein airport. With the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 Bloemfontein became the "judicial capital" of South Africa and the seat for the highest court in the land, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The South African National Congress (ANC - now the now ruling party) was founded to defend the rights of the black majority on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein, and counted John Dube (its first president) and the poet and author Sol Plaatje amongst its founding members. Bloemfontein is located in central South Africa on the southern edge of the Highveld at an elevation of 1400m, bordering on the semi-arid region of the Karoo. The area is generally flat with occasional hills (koppies: Afrikaans) and the general vegetation is Highveld grassland. Owing to its high elevation and distance from the sea, Bloemfontein experiences a continental climate with hot summer days (Jan: max:31¨¬C min:15¨¬C; frequent afternoon thunderstorms) and cold, dry winters, often with severe frost (Jul: max:17¨¬C min:-2¨¬C). Snow is rare but as recently as August 2006 it snowed in the city, with snowfalls occuring again at the airport on July 26th 2007. Bloemfontein is joint home (together with nearby Botshabelo) to Premier Soccer League team Bloemfontein Celtic. Some of the matches of the Football World Cup 2010 will be played at the Free State Stadium. Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium is home to two rugby union teams; the Central Cheetahs franchise who compete in the Super 14 and the Free State Cheetahs who play in the domestic Currie Cup. The Free State Cheetahs won the Currie Cup in 2005 and drew the finals with the Blue Bulls in 2006, resulting in their retaining the title of Currie Cup champions until at least 2007. J. R. R. Tolkien CBE was born in Bloemfontein on 3 January 1892. Tolkien is famous for his fantasy epics The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. When aged 3, Tolkien left South Africa for England.

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