Edenburg is a town situated about south of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

in the Free State province of South Africa. , it had a population of 14,566.

Background

Edenburg was proclaimed a town in 1863 and received municipal government in 1891. The town is 85 km south-south-west of

. Laid out on the farm Rietfontein in 1862 with the Dutch Reformed Church built in the same year and it became a municipality in 1891. The name is said to be either of biblical origin or an adaptation of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, name of the birthplace in Scotland of the Reverend Andrew Murray, for many years the only minister in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

. The N1 highway bypasses the town to the east, while the

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

–Bloemfontein railway runs along its western edge.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Kopanong Local Municipality Populated places founded by Afrikaners Populated places established in 1862 1862 establishments in the Orange Free State