Bethlehem, Free State
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Bethlehem Bohlokong |
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 Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem shown within Free State
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| Coordinates: 28°13′26″S 28°18′40″E / 28.224°S 28.311°ECoordinates: 28°13′26″S 28°18′40″E / 28.224°S 28.311°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Free State |
| District | Thabo Mofutsanyane |
| Municipality | Dihlabeng |
| Established | 1859 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 27.83 km2 (10.75 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,700 m (5,600 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 16,236 |
| • Density | 580/km2 (1,500/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 32.7% |
| • Coloured | 8.7% |
| • Indian/Asian | 2.1% |
| • White | 56.0% |
| • Other | 0.4% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 66.7% |
| • Sotho | 19.4% |
| • English | 7.2% |
| • Zulu | 2.7% |
| • Other | 4.0% |
| Postal code (street) | 9701 |
| PO box | 9700 |
Bethlehem is a large town in the eastern Free State province of South Africa that is situated on the Liebenbergs river (also called Liebenbergs Vlei) along a fertile valley just north of the Rooiberg Mountains on the N5 road.
It is a wheat growing area and named after the biblical Bethlehem (from "Beit Lechem", Hebrew for "house of bread").
The town lies at an altitude of 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) and this contributes to its cool climate with frosty winters and mild summers. The average annual temperature is around 24 °C (75 °F)
Bethlehem is situated approximately 240 kilometres (150 mi) north-east of Bloemfontein, 140 kilometres (87 mi) east of Kroonstad and 90 kilometres (56 mi) west of Harrismith. The town is strategically situated in the heart of the picturesque north-eastern Free State and originally developed as a service centre. Bethlehem is the seat of the Dihlabeng Local Municipality (this municipality is situated within the boundaries of the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality in the Eastern Free State).
The township associated with Bethlehem is called Bohlokong, named after the hloko/bohloko grass Diheteropogon filifolius.
Bethlehem was founded in 1864 on the farm Pretorius Kloof by Daniël van Dyk and Luan Klopper but the real founder was Armand du Plessis, the first two guys only found the township.
A number of heritage sites are located in Bethlehem:
Bethlehem has many shopping centres like any other town in the Free State. Bethlehem is the main center of the eastern Free State where people from other towns do their shopping, the main shopping malls are Bethlehem mall, Dihlabeng mall and Maluti square. Others are Village square, Metropolitan life centre, Shoprite centre, with the shopping in this town also characterised by typical high street shopping with majority of shops situated along the Muller, Cambridge, Louw, Church and other surrounding streets.
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