Vryburg (South Africa)

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Vryburg
Vryburg (South Africa)
Vryburg
Vryburg
Coordinates 26 ° 57 ′ 0 ″  S , 24 ° 44 ′ 0 ″  E Coordinates: 26 ° 57 ′ 0 ″  S , 24 ° 44 ′ 0 ″  E
Basic data
Country South Africa

province

northwest
District Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati
ISO 3166-2 ZA-NW
local community Naledi
height 1234 m
surface 64.1 km²
Residents 21,182 (2011)
density 330.3  Ew. / km²
Website www.vryburg.com (English)
Vryburg town hall
Vryburg town hall

Vryburg [ frɛĭbœrx ] ( Afrikaans for “Freiburg”) is a large agricultural town in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district ( Northwest Province , South Africa ). It is the administrative seat of the district. In 2011 the city had 21,182 inhabitants.

geography

Vryburg is at an altitude of 1234 meters above sea level.

The city is located in the middle of Kimberley (the capital of the Northern Cape Province ) and Mahikeng (the capital of the Northwest Province). Cecil Rhodes ' Northern Railway Line, which begins in Cape Town , runs through Vryburg and continues north towards Victoria Falls and beyond. Vryburg is also on the N14 , which begins in the Gauteng Province and runs in a south-west through Vryburg, Kuruman and Upington to Springbok in the north-west of the province. The national road connects Gauteng with Namibia . It is crossed here by the N18 coming from Kimberley and continuing to Botswana .

South of the city is the township of Huhudi ( Tswana for "running water"). The Tiger Kloof Educational Institute , a school, was also established south of Vryburg in 1902. The stone church on the school grounds was declared a national monument.

history

When the Boer republic Stellaland was founded in 1882, Vryburg became the capital. The first and only President of the Republic was GJ van Niekerk. In 1885 the British conquered the city and incorporated the area into the British Bechuanaland Crown Colony , which then became part of the Cape Colony in 1895 . During the Second Boer War , the British set up a concentration camp in the city to intern Boer women and children. In 1910 the Cape Colony became a Cape Province . When the present nine provinces were established in 1994, Vryburg was assigned to the Northwest Province.

economy

The area around Vryburg is Africa's largest beef supplier. Hereford cattle in particular are kept here. The area is sometimes referred to as "the Texas of South Africa". Corn and peanuts are other important agricultural products in the district.

Town twinning

Vryburg has been twinned with Assen in the Netherlands since 1999 .

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town:

Personalities associated with the city:

  • Arnold Theiler (1867–1936), Swiss veterinarian who founded the world-famous research facility for veterinary medicine in Onderstepoort near Pretoria ; did research in the early years of his career on the farm Armoedsvlakte, eight kilometers west of Vryburg. The Theiler Museum on the farm exhibits some of his equipment.

literature

  • Hans Bornman: Vryburg, 1882-1982. Stadsraad van Vryburg, Vryburg 1982, ISBN 0-620-05988-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2011 census , accessed November 21, 2013
  2. ↑ Weather station: Vryburg . Retrieved March 14, 2009.