Orange Free State

The Orange Free State (Afrikaans/Dutch: Oranje Vrijstaat) is an independent republic in southern Africa. Together with the Kingdom of Lesotho it forms an inland enclave inside the Republic of South Africa.

The official language in the Orange Free State was Dutch until 1926, when the Parliament (Volksraad) changed it to Afrikaans. The Orange Free State has developed into a politically and economically successful republic, however between the 1930's and 1980's it practised an Apartheid policy, systematically discriminating black, coloured and Asian people.

Today Orange Free State is a developing multi-ethnic state which has a large variety of cultures and languages. Although only one official language is recognised in the constitution, also 5 other languages are recognized as minority languages. Two of these languages are of European origin: Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and coloured, and South African English. Afrikaans is the most common language used in public and commercial life, and also more than half of the population use it as their home language. All ethnic groups have political representation in the country's constitutional democracy comprising a parliamentary republic; unlike most parliamentary republics, the positions of head of state and head of government are merged in a parliament-dependent President.

About 66.0% of the Free State population is of black African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages. Orange Free State is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, one of only five countries in Africa in this category (the others being South Africa, Botswana, Gabon and Mauritius). It has the sixth largest economy in Africa, and the 75th-largest in the world. About 10% of the population is unemployed and lives on less than US $5 a day.

Etymology
The country lies between the Orange and Vaal rivers and its borders were determined by the United Kingdom in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the Orange River Sovereignty, with a seat of a British Resident in Bloemfontein. The republic's name derives partly from the Orange River, which in turn was named in honour of the Dutch ruling royal family, the House of Orange, by the Dutch settlers under Robert Jacob Gordon.

Prior to Europeans
The country north of the Orange river was first visited by Europeans towards the close of the 18th century. At that time, the population was sparse. The majority of the inhabitants appear to have been members of the Tswana people (also spelled Bechuana), but in the valleys of the Orange and Vaal were also Koranbas and other Khoekhoes, and in the Drakensberg and on the western border lived numbers of Bushmen (Zulu). Initially the Cape of Good Hope was colonised by the Duch, whose mixed race descendants, the Griquas were the first to establish themselves north of the Orange River.

The Voortrekkers and the Great Trek (1815-1854)
However Britain acquired the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa from the Dutch in 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars. Certain groups of Dutch-speaking settler farmers ("Boers") resented British rule, even though British control brought some economic benefits. There were successive waves of migrations of Boer farmers (known as Trekboere which literally means "moving farmers"), first east along the coast away from the Cape toward Natal, and thereafter north toward the interior eventually establishing the republics that came to be known as Orange Free State and the Transvaal (literally "across/beyond the Vaal River," a tributary of the Orange River).

The British did not try to stop Trekboers from moving away from the Cape. The Trekboers served as pioneers, opening up the interior for those who followed, and the British gradually extended their control away from the Cape along the coast to the east eventually annexing Natal in 1845. Indeed, the British subsequently ratified the two new Republics in a pair of treaties: the Sand River Convention of 1852 which recognized the independence of Transvaal Republic, and the Bloemfontein Convention of 1854 which recognized the independence of the Orange Free State. However, British colonial expansion was, from the 1830s, marked by skirmishes and wars against both Boers and native African tribes for most of the remainder of the century. After declaring independence, Orange Free State was involved in a small Boer civil war in the North as well as a war against the Basuto tribes in the West. However the situation between the Boers and Basutos was settled in 1869 with the help of British re conciliators.

Diamonds Discovered (1867-1879)
The discovery of diamonds in 1867 near the Vaal River, some 890 km (550 miles) northeast of Cape Town, ended the isolation of the Boers in the interior and changed South African history. The discovery triggered a "diamond rush" that attracted people from all over the world turning the farm of Kimberley into a town of 50,000 within five years (majority of gold miners arriving in 1870-1871) and drawing the attention of British imperial interests. In the 1870s, the British annexed West Griqualand, site of the Kimberley diamond discoveries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli's Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon, in an attempt to extend British influence in 1875 approached the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic and tried to organize a federation of the British and Boer territories to be modeled after the 1867 federation of French and English provinces of Canada, but the Boer leaders turned him down. The successive British annexations, and in particular the annexation of West Griqualand, however caused a climate of simmering unease for the Boer republics.

In 1877, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, the British Secretary for Native Affairs in Natal, annexed the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic), for Britain using a special warrant. The Transvaal Boers objected but as long as the Zulu threat remained, found themselves between the proverbial rock and hard place; they feared that if they took up arms to resist the British annexation actively, King Cetshwayo and the Zulus would take the opportunity to attack. They also feared a war on two fronts, namely that the local tribes would seize the opportunity to rebel and the simmering unrest in the Transvaal would be re-ignited. The British annexation resulted however in resentment against the British occupation and a growing nationalism.

First Boer War (1879-1881)
Although the Zulu and the British were allies and Transvaal and Basutoland were annexed to the Cape Colony, the British began to see the 40,000 strong Zulu army and their King Cetshawayo as a threat to the peace of the region and demanded him to disband his army. As the Zulu King refused and asked more time for this to happen, the British did not wait but invaded Zulu land in 1879. After the Zulus had been defeated, the Transvaal Boers saw their chance and revolted. Although officially the Orange Free State was neutral in the conflict, many Boer farmers who lived in the North of the country ventured across the Vaal River and joined the kommandos (Afrikaans for "mobile (originally by horse) infantry regiment") to help their brethren in the struggle against the British. The Boer commandos were able to use superior marksmanship, fieldcraft, camouflage and mobility to expel the occupying British force (poorly trained in marksmanship, wearing red uniforms and unmounted) from the Transvaal. The British losses were some 700 casualties (400 dead, 300 wounded) and the Boers suffered less than 90 casualties (41 dead, 47 wounded). Peace was signed on 23rd March 1881.

Interwar (1881-1899)
The British expansionist policy was answered by the formation of the Afrikander Bond, which represented the racial aspirations of the Dutch-speaking people in Southern Africa, and had active branches in the Free State. This alteration in the political outlook was accompanied, and in part occasioned, by economic changes of great significance. The development of the diamond mines and of the gold and coal industries had far-reaching consequences, bringing the Boer republics into vital contact with the new industrial era. The Free Staters had shown considerable ability to adapt their policy to meet the altered situation. In 1889 an agreement was come to between the Free State and the Cape Colony government, whereby the latter was empowered to extend, at its own cost, its railway system to Bloemfontein. The Free State retained the right to purchase this extension at cost. Having accepted the assistance of the Cape government in constructing its railway, the state also in 1889 entered into a Customs Union Convention with them. The convention was the outcome of a conference held at Cape Town in 1888, at which delegates from Natal, the Free State and the Cape Colony attended.

In January 1889 F. W. Reitz was elected president of the Free State. His accession to the presidency marked the beginning of what turned out to be a new and dangerous line of policy in the external affairs of the country. Once Reitz had got into office, a meeting was arranged with Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, at which various terms were discussed and decided upon regarding an agreement dealing with the railways, terms of a treaty of amity and commerce, and what was called a political treaty. The political treaty referred in general terms to a federal union between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, and bound each of them to help the other, whenever the independence of either should be assailed or threatened from without, unless the state so called upon for assistance should be able to show the injustice of the cause of quarrel in which the other state had engaged. While thus committed to a dangerous alliance with its northern neighbour no change was made in internal administration. The Free State, in fact, from its geographical position reaped the benefits without incurring the anxieties consequent on the settlement of a large Uitlander (foreigner) population on the Rand. The Volksraad, however, became increasingly worried with the reactionary movements and relations with the British. In 1895 president Reitz mustered his executive powers and forced the Volksraad to pass a resolution, in which the Orange Free State declared their readiness to entertain a proposition from the South African Republic in favour of some form of federal union. In the same year Reitz retired from the presidency of the Orange Free State, due to ill-health. Luckily he was succeeded in February 1896 by J.G. Fraser, who in contrary to Reitz represented a Pro-British approach. No further offensive and defensive alliances between the two Boer Republics were made. As a matter of fact President Fraser dissolved all the treaties between the Orange Free State and the South African Republic on the outbreak of hostilities between the British and the South African Republic in October 1899.

Second Boer War (1899-1902)
As tensions escalated from the local to the national level in 1886, soon after the First Boer War. There were political manoeuvrings and lengthy negotiations to reach a compromise over the issues of the rights of the Uitlanders (foreigners) within the white community in SAR, the rights of the original non-white population, control of the gold mining industry, and the British desire to incorporate the Transvaal and the Orange Free State in a federation under British control (as the worlds largest gold-bearing ore deposit was found in 1886, just 30 miles from the SAR Capital of Pretoria). Given that the more recent arrivals (mostly of British origin) already represented a majority of the white community in Johannesburg, and that new uitlanders were continually arriving, the Boers recognised that granting full voting rights to the uitlanders would eventually result in the loss of ethnic Boer control over the South African Republic. The negotiations failed, and in September 1899 British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain sent an ultimatum to the Boers, demanding full equality for those uitlanders resident in the Transvaal. Paul Kruger, the President of the South African Republic, issued his own ultimatum, giving the British 48 hours to withdraw all their troops from the border of the Transvaal, failing which the Transvaal, would declare war against the British. Both sides rejected the others' ultimatums, and the Transvaal government declared war.

Although claiming neutrality for the second time in the Boer Wars, the Orange Free State did and could not prevent Boer volunteers from crossing the Vaal river and joining the forces of the South African Republic. However a small number of armed patrols roamed around the Eastern and Northern borders as to prevent Boer kommandos and British scout forces from cutting through Free State territory. In 1901 Abraham Fischer became the new president.

Although eventually victorious in annexing the South African Republic the British had done nothing to learn from the First Boer War. This resulted in heavy casualties on the British side. The war took 4 years, of which the first one was dominated by a Boer offence to British settlements in the North. The second year turned the tables as the British reinforcements arrived to the continent and quickly pushed to Boer forces back to Transvaal and even conquered their capital Pretoria. The final 2 years were a constant guerilla war between the Boer kommandos and the British army attempting to occupy the SAR area. Since the British could not directly counter the guerilla tactics of Boers they began to build small fortifications, block houses, around Boer settlements to prevent kommandos from supplying, and also used the scorched earth tactic. Also infamous concentration camps made their first appearance in the world when the British detained Boer families and their servants in camps around the Transvaal region. Mortality rate in the camps was high due to lack of hygiene and a report after the war concluded that 17,927 Boers (of whom 14,074 [50 percent of the Boer child population] were children under 16) had died of starvation, disease and exposure in the concentration camps. In all, about one in four (25 percent) of the Boer inmates, mostly children, died.

The last of the Boers surrendered in May, 1902 and the war ended with the Treaty of Vereeniging signed on 31 May 1902. Although the British had won, this came at a cost; the Boers were given £3,000,000 for reconstruction and were promised eventual limited self-government, which was granted in 1906. The treaty ended the existence of the South African Republic as an independent Boer republic and placed it within the British Empire. In all, the war had cost around 55,000 lives; 21,000 British soldiers (7,292 killed in battle, the rest through disease), between 4,000 and 5,000 Boer fighters, and, mainly in the concentration camps, between 12,000 to 20,000 Boer civilians (mainly women and children) and perhaps 20,000 black Africans (both on the battlefield and in the concentration camps).

First World War and Segregation (1903-1939)
After the South African Republic lost its independence in the Second Boer War, many Boer refugees fled to the Orange Free State, and some left elsewhere abroad, but also many Boer families stayed. After eight years of negotiations between the Boers and British, the Union of South Africa was created from the Cape and Natal colonies, as well as the colony (former republic) of Transvaal, on 31 May 1910. Fortunately for Boers, the British agreed to keep Dutch as an official language of the Union (to avoid more Boers to emigrate from the northern territories) as well as allowing to keep their possessions and lands. At that point the Orange Free State became a complete enclave within the Union of South Africa and decided to renew its Customs Union treaty with South Africa. The British accepted a new treaty with the condition that British residents in the Free State would gain more power and English language education would be available for them. This made the Volksraad to start an education reform. Many schools were established in the rural countryside throughout the country and churches began teaching as well. Also a large change was made when Black people were required to attend schools as well. The idea of the Volksraad was to educate the blacks to appreciate the Boer landowners and to learn Dutch/Afrikaans, instead of English. This also began to shift the Orange Free State from mainly agrarian to a more industrialised and extroverted State. Despite blacks allowed to take part in education, also new racial discrimination policies began to take place. Beginning from the Natives' Land Act (Naturellegrond-wet) of 1910, it severely restricted the ownership of land by black as well as it began to support migratory labour system in which black men travelled to the mines to work leaving their families in their tribal areas. Traditionally Boers had been farmers and very few have ever worked in the mines themselves. The supply of labour became more than sufficient and the mining companies formed a buying cartel. This enabled them to create a monopsony (market conditions where there is only one buyer) that suppressed wages. The mines also attracted labour from Europe and the neighbouring British Empire. During the First World War the Free State remained strictly neutral and concentrated on economic growth and internal policies that helped the white minority exercise power over the state. The development of Afrikaans language and identity also began to merge in Southern Africa and the national language was changed from Dutch to Afrikaans in 1925. The Union of South Africa followed the Free State in changing their second official language to Afrikaans in 1926.

Growth of prosperity of the Free State was increasing steadily in the 1920's for the white minority and partially for the black majority all the way until the Great Depression in 1929. At the time among the white population there many tenant farmers, known as sharecroppers, who shared their crops with their landlord in lieu of rent. Drought and the forced sale and consolidation of farms during the Great Depression led to many being forced off the land. What were described as 'Poor Whites', almost exclusively of Afrikaner origin, flooded to the towns and began competing with blacks for jobs on the mines, which were the only thing to save the Free State economy from total collapse. Although all sections of the community were in fact impoverished at the time, special attention was paid to white poverty. In 1931 Jan Smuts was elected as the president of the Orange Free State (by the whites alone), and he began to introduce distinct Apartheid (segregation) policies that were ostensibly to allow different racial groups to progress in their separate areas without major interference of another racial group. In practice, Apartheid legislated racial division that confirmed white economic and political superiority and ensured that blacks were maintained in subservient positions. The government established three racial classes: white, coloured (people of Asian or mixed racial ancestry), and black, with rights and restrictions for each. For example before Apartheid, mine owners preferred hiring black workers because they were cheaper and thus the market forces directed them against discrimination, however after apartheid policies began to take place, the government began to enact laws that highly restricted the blacks' rights to work, in order for whites to get higher wages than their comparative performance would otherwise yield. Thus from 1930s whites elected governments that united white labour and Afrikaner Nationalism and used sanctions such as denying government contracts, against businesses that did not employ white people and also who did not speak Afrikaans. Nationalised industries were established, like steel and the railways, which reserved even low skilled jobs for whites. The 1930s and 1940s saw the rapid industrialisation of the country as it supplied the mining industry and the government invested in major projects to protect white employment. Orange Free State not only had gold and diamonds but vast quantities of iron, coal and many other minerals. Agriculture diminished in importance as mining and then industry grew. President Jan Smuts was elected for a second term in 1937 and he began to successfully promote the Orange Free State and establishing friendly relationships across the world.

Post War and Apartheid (1944-1978)
After Smuts finished his second presidential term in 1943 he was replaced by another extroverted and Pro-British President, Jan Hofmeyr. Yet due to chronic illnesses, which later were found out to be symptoms of critical burnout, President Hofmeyr vacated his office only two years after swearing his Presidential Oath and suddenly died the same year. New elections had to be held and during this time the Second World War had finished in Europe and the Iron curtain had began to settle in the World. The whites had become very weary of the new world order and voted the conservative Herenigde Nationale Party (HNP, Reunited National Party in Afrikaans), led by Daniel Francois Malan, a Dutch Reformed cleric, into power. Due to legislation relating to franchise requirements, very few people of Coloured and Asian descent were able to vote at the time, whereas black Africans were banned altogether since the late 1920s, with the limited number of Africans meeting qualifications to elect four "own" white MPs separately. The HNP, realizing that many White Free Staters felt threatened by the rise of communism in the world and black political aspirations, pledged to implement a policy of strict racial segregation in all spheres of living, if victorious in elections. The Nationalists labelled this new system of government 'apartheid', the name by which it became universally - and infamously - known. Once elected, the new government introduced the policy of Apartheid (segregation) that was ostensibly to allow different racial groups to progress in their separate lives. In practice, Apartheid legislated racial division that confirmed white economic and political superiority and ensured that blacks were maintained in subservient positions. South Africa followed the Orange Free State in 1948 elections, electing the South African branch of HNP as the ruling party. In the two decades following the rise to power of the HNP, whites (particularly south african afrikaners and freestater boers) were given an advantage over all other ethnic groups in Orange Free State and South Africa through the manipulation of the labour market. During the Fifties, the income hierarchy in Free State was essentially a racial one, with well-paid employment monopolized by Whites (almost all of whom were reasonably remunerated), Coloureds and Indians in middling class positions, and Black Africans at the bottom. Although racial segregation in southern Africa began in colonial times, apartheid legislation, however, classified inhabitants of the Orange Free State and South Africa into four racial groups ("native", "white", "coloured", and "Asian"). In the beginning of apartheid in mid-1940's residential areas were segregated, sometimes by means of forced removals. Non-white political representation was also soon completely abolished in late-1950's (1970 in South Africa), and starting in that year black people were deprived of their citizenship, legally becoming citizens of one of ten tribally based self-governing homelands called bantustans, 4 of which in Orange Free State and 6 of which in South Africa. Four of them later became nominally independent states. During apartheid the government segregated education, medical care, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of white people. Apartheid sparked significant internal resistance and violence as well as a long trade embargo against both Orange Free State and South Africa. Since the 1950s, a series of popular uprisings and protests were met with the banning of opposition and imprisoning of anti-apartheid leaders. As unrest spread and became more violent, state organisations responded with increasing repression and state-sponsored violence. Reforms to apartheid began in Orange Free State with a sudden victory of Progressieve Reformiste Party in 1978 elections and Harry Schwarz was elected as the new President.

Government and politics


Orange Free State is a presidential republic, where the President is both head of state and head of government, and depends for his tenure on the confidence of Parliament. The executive, legislature and judiciary are all subject to the supremacy of the Constitution, and the superior courts have the power to strike down executive actions and acts of Parliament if they are unconstitutional. The National Assembly (Volksraad), the lower house of Parliament, consists of 122 members and is elected every six years. In the most recent election, held on 22 April 2008, the centrist Volksfront (Peoples Front, VF) won 52.7% of the vote and 63 seats, while its main opposition, the leftist Oranje Kommunistiese Party (Orange Communist Party, OKP) won 14.8% of the vote and 18 seats and the right-wing Nieuwe Nationale Party (New National Party, NNP) won 12.0% of the vote and 15 seats. The National Council (Nationale Raad), the upper house, consists of fifty members, with each of the five Provincial Councils electing ten members. After each parliamentary election, the National Assembly elects one of its members as President; hence the President serves a term of office the same as that of the Assembly, normally six years. No President may serve more than two terms in office. The President appoints a Deputy President and Ministers, who form the Cabinet. The President and the Cabinet may be removed by the National Assembly by a motion of no confidence. The judicial system consists of the magistrates' courts, which hear lesser criminal cases and smaller civil cases; the High Courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction for specific areas; the Supreme Court of Appeal, which is the highest court in all but constitutional matters; and the Constitutional Court, which hears only constitutional matters. The first European based law in South Africa was brought by the Dutch East India Company and is called Roman-Dutch law. It was imported before the codification of European law into the Napoleonic Code and is comparable in many ways to Scots law. This was followed in the 19th century by English law, both common and statutory. Starting from 1854 independence, Orange Free State has had its own parliament passing laws specific for Free State, building on those previously passed. Since 1996, Free State politics have been dominated by Volksfront (VF), which has been the dominant party with over 50% of votes. The main challenger to the rule of the VF are the leftist Oranje Kommunistiese Party and the right-wing Nieuwe Nationale Party. The National Party, which was responsible of the apartheid in Free State, ruled from 1930's to 1960's and renamed itself in 1982 to New National Party (Nieuwe Nationale Party). Other major political parties represented in Parliament are the Demokratiese Alliantie (DA), Party van de Arbeid (PvdA), and the Afrikaanse Party (AP), which mainly represents Tswana and Sesotho voters and took 3.7% of the vote in the 2008 election. Since 2004, the country has had many thousands of popular protests. Many of these protests have been organised from the growing shanty towns that surround Free State cities.

Provinces
At the end of apartheid in 1984, the "independent" and "semi-independent" Bantustans were abolished, and new provinces were created. Each province is governed by a Provincial Council, which is elected every five years by party-list proportional representation. The Provincial Council elects a Premier as head of the province, and the Premier appoints an Executive Council as a provincial cabinet. The powers of Provincial Councils are limited to topics listed in the Constitution; these topics include such fields as health, education, public housing and transport.

Military
The Orange Free State military evolved within the tradition of asymmetric warfare fought by Boer kommando forces against the British and African tribes in the 19th century. The current form of the Orange Free State Defence Forces was established in 1939 at the break of the Second World War, it was influenced by the Boers' historical distrust of large standing armies though. Although the army has not fought in any wars, the apartheid policies led to frictions with neighbouring states that helped to spark the border conflicts in South West Africa, now Namibia, from 1966 onwards, where the Orange Free State Special Forces aided the South African Army. During the 70's the counter-insurgency war against black liberation movements intensified and Orange Free State took it as a policy of attacking guerrilla-bases and safe houses of the ANC (African National Congress), PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) and SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organization) in southern African countries beginning in the late 1970s. These attacks were in retaliation for acts of terror such as bomb explosions, massacres and guerrilla actions (like sabotage) by ANC, PAC and SWAPO guerrillas in the Free State, South Africa and Namibia. The country also aided organisations in surrounding countries who were actively combating the spread of communism in southern Africa. The role of the Army has not changed much by the upheavals of the 1980s, although it is now becoming increasingly involved in peacekeeping efforts in southern Africa, often as part of wider African Union operations. The results of these policies included:
 * Orange Free State Defence Force (OFSDF) hit-squad raids into "front-line" states. Air and commando raids into Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana occurred the same day, against selective ANC targets.
 * An assassination attempt on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on 18 December 1981 with South African Special Forces.
 * A full-scale invasion of Angola: this was partly in support of UNITA, but was also an attempt to strike at SWAPO bases.
 * Bomb attacks in Lesotho.
 * Targeting of exiled ANC leaders abroad: Joe Slovo's wife Ruth First was killed by a parcel bomb in Maputo, and 'death squads' of the State Security Bureau (B.S., Buro vir Staatsveiligheid) and the Directorate of Military Intelligence attempted to carry out assassinations on ANC targets in Brussels, Paris, Stockholm and London.
 * In 1985, Mozambican president Samora Machel signed the Nkomati Accord with Orange Free State's president P.W. Botha, in an attempt to rebuild Mozambique's economy. Orange Free State agreed to cease supporting anti-government forces, while the MK was prohibited from operating in Mozambique. This was a setback for the ANC. Two years later, President Machel was killed in an air crash in mountainous terrain in South Africa near the Mozambican border after returning from a meeting in Zambia. South Africa and Orange Free State were accused by the Mozambican government and U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz of continuing its aid to RENAMO and having caused the accident by using a false radio navigation beacon to lure the aircraft into crashing. This conspiracy theory was never proven and is still a subject of some controversy, despite the South African Margo Commission finding that the crash was an accident. A Soviet delegation that did not participate in the investigation issued a minority report implicating South Africa as sole responsible for it.

Geography and environment
The Orange Free State is situated on flat boundless plains in the heart of southern Africa. The rich soil and pleasant climate allow a thriving agricultural industry. With more than 30,000 farms, which produce over grain far over the country needs, it is known locally as South Africa's breadbasket. The province is high-lying, with almost all land being 1,000 metres above sea level. The Drakensberg and Maluti Mountains foothills raise the terrain to over 2,000 m in the east. The Free State lies in the heart of the Karoo Sequence of rocks, containing shales, mudstones, sandstones and the Drakensberg Basalt forming the youngest capping rocks. Mineral deposits are plentiful, with gold and diamonds being of particular importance, mostly found in the north and west of the province.

Climate
The Orange Free State experiences a continental climate, characterised by warm to hot summers and cool to cold winters. Areas in the east experience frequent snowfalls, especially on the higher ranges, whilst the west can be extremely hot in summer. Almost all precipitation falls in the summer months as brief afternoon thunderstorms, with aridity increasing towards the west. Areas in the east around Harrismith, Bethlehem and Ficksburg are well watered. The capital, Bloemfontein, experiences hot, moist summers and cold, dry winters frequented by severe frost. Bloemfontein averages: January maximum: 31 °C (min: 15 °C), July maximum: 17 °C (min: -2 °C), annual precipitation: 559 mm Bethlehem averages: 27 °C (min: 13 °C), July maximum: 16 °C (min: -2 °C), annual precipitation: 680 mm

Flora and fauna
The grassy plains in the south of the reserve provides ideal conditions for large herds of plain game such as black wildebeest and springbok. The ridges, koppies and plains typical of the northern section are home to kudu, red hartebeest, white rhinoceros and buffalo. The African wildcat, black wildebeest, zebra, eland, white rhinoceros and wild dog can be seen at the Soetdoring Nature Reserve near Bloemfontein. The most prevalent biome in Orange Free State is the grassland, particularly on the Highveld, where the plant cover is dominated by different grasses, low shrubs, and acacia trees, mainly camel-thorn and whitethorn. Vegetation becomes even more sparse towards the west due to low rainfall. In the east there are several species of water-storing succulents like aloes and euphorbias. Naturally occurring vegetation in the Highveld consists of different types of well-established grassland depending on the varying amounts of rainfall across the area: subtropical and temperate grassland, with true savannah not dominating the ecosystem until more tropical latitudes. The major grass species are Hyparrhenia hirta and Sporobolus pyramidalis and among these are other grasses and herbs. Trees and shrubs never thrived due to the frequent fires that occurred in the dry season and the heavy grazing (once by wild animals and now by livestock). The highveld is home to a number of endangered animals including Straw-coloured Fruit Bats, Mountain Zebras and the Blue Crane (Anthropoides paradiseus). The only endemic bird species is Botha's Lark (Spizocorys fringillaris) and the only endemic mammal is Free State Pygmy Mouse (Mus orangiae). Other endangered animals such as reptiles include Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) and Rock Monitor (Varanus albigularis). Like so many areas of traditional grassland all over the world the Highveld is excellent agricultural land and most of the area has been converted for farming. The grassland now remains in its original state in areas of nature reserve, which although a small portion of the Highveld are still the largest areas of remaining grassland in southern Africa. The protected areas include Vaal Dam and Koppies Dam Nature Reserves and Willem Pretorius Game Reserve. Climate change is expected to bring considerable warming and drying to much of this already semi-arid region, with greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, flooding and drought. According to computer generated climate modelling produced by the Orange Free State National Biodiversity Institute, parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about one degree Celsius along the coast to more than four degrees Celsius in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050.

Art
On top of the native Bantu tradition in arts, white Freestaters have also produced prominent artists and many Freestaters also enjoy a high level of Art exhibitions held in the Bloemfontein Kultureel Sentrum throughout the year.

Literature
Freestaters, as Afrikaners in general, have a long literary tradition, and have produced a number of notable novelists and poets, including Eugene Marais, Uys Krige, Elisabeth Eybers, Breyten Breytenbach, André Brink, and Etienne Leroux.

Music
Music is probably the most popular art form among Freestaters. While the traditional Boeremusiek (Boer Music) and Volkspele (literally, People Games) folk dancing enjoyed popularity in the past, most white Freestaters today favour a variety of international genres and light popular Afrikaans music. American country and western music has enjoyed great popularity and has a strong following among the Freestater youth. Some also enjoy a social dance event called a sokkie. The South African rock band, Seether, has a hidden track on their album, Karma and Effect, that is sung in the Afrikaans language. It is titled, Kom Saam Met My, which is translated as Come With Me. There is also an underground rock music movement in Bloemfontein and bands like the controversial Fokofpolisiekar have a large following there. The television Channel MK (MK is for Musiek Kanaal) also supports local Afrikaans music and mainly screen videos from the Afrikaans Rock genre.

Sports
Rugby, cricket, and golf are generally considered to be the most popular sports among Afrikaners. Rugby in particular is considered one of the central pillars of the Freestater community. The national Rugby team of the Orange Free State is called the Leopards. "Boere-sport" also played a very big role in the Afrikaner history. It consisted of a variety of sports like tug of war, three-legged races, jukskei, skilpadloop (tortoise walk) and other games.

Education
The Orange Free State has a 3 tier system of education starting with primary school, followed by high school and tertiary education in the form of (academic) universities and universities of technology. Learners have twelve years of formal schooling, from grade 1 to 12. Grade R is a pre-primary foundation year. Primary schools span the first seven years of schooling. High School education spans a further five years. The Senior Certificate examination takes place at the end of grade 12 and is necessary for tertiary studies at a university.

The School System is further divided in private-, and public education. The BCVO (Afrikaans: Beweging vir Christelik-Volkseie Onderwys) (English: Movement for Christian-National Education) is an educational organisation, committed to providing primary and secondary education (grade 1 through 12) in the Calvinist tradition and Afrikaans language. There are currently 21 directly affiliated schools throughout the Free State, educating approximately 2100 children annually. The schools affiliated with the BCVO are committed to the following principles:
 * 1) Teaching that the Bible is the divinely inspired and infallible Word of God and the highest authority.
 * 2) Teaching conservative, Christian values in a secular world.
 * 3) Teaching the Calvinist-Reformed faith and holding to all its doctrines against heresies.
 * 4) Teaching Afrikaner culture and history, constantly reminding Afrikaner children of their heritage and identity.

Majority of population, though, attends public schools.

Traditionally public universities were divided into three types: traditional universities, which offer theoretically oriented university degrees; universities of technology ("Technikons"), which offer vocational oriented diplomas and degrees; and comprehensive universities, which offer both types of qualification. There are 11 public universities in Orange Free State: 5 traditional universities, 4 universities of technology and 2 comprehensive universities. Public institutions are usually Afrikaans medium, although instruction may take place in English as well. There are also a large number of other educational institutions in Free State – some are local campuses of foreign universities and some offer unaccredited or non-accredited diplomas. Both public and private universities and colleges register with the Department of Higher Education and Training and are accredited by the Council on Higher Education (RHO, Raad op Hoger Onderwys). Rankings of universities and business schools in Free State are largely based on international university rankings. Under apartheid, schools for blacks were subject to discrimination through inadequate funding and a separate syllabus called Bantu Education which was only designed to give them sufficient skills interact in Afrikaans and to work as labourers. In 1994 however Free State started reforming its higher education system, merging and incorporating small universities into larger institutions, and renaming all higher education institutions "university" in order to redressing these imbalances. Public expenditure on education was at 9.4 % of the 2002–05 GDP.