Editing Vredefort

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Vredefort
| image_skyline      = Nederduitse Gereformeerde Church Vredefort-005.jpg
| image_caption      = Nederduitse Gereformeerde Church, Church Street, Vredefort
| pushpin_map        = South Africa Free State#South Africa
| coordinates        = {{coord|27|01|S|27|23|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[South Africa]]
| subdivision_type1  = Province
| subdivision_name1  = [[Free State (province)|Free State]]
| subdivision_type2  = District
| subdivision_name2  = [[Fezile Dabi District Municipality|Fezile Dabi]]
| subdivision_type3  = Municipality
| subdivision_name3  = [[Ngwathe Local Municipality|Ngwathe]]
| subdivision_type4  = Main Place
| established_title  = Established
| established_date   = 1878<ref name=established>{{cite thesis |last=Robson |first=Linda Gillian |title=The Royal Engineers and settlement planning in the Cape Colony 1806–1872: Approach, methodology and impact |date=2011 |type=PhD thesis |publisher=University of Pretoria |chapter=Annexure A |chapter-url=https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/26503/05back.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y#page=31 |url=https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/26503 |hdl=2263/26503 |pages=xlv–lii}}</ref>
| leader_title       = Councillor
| area_footnotes     = <ref name=census2011>Sum of the Main Places [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/477005 Vredefort] and [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/477006 Mokwallo] from Census 2011.</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 21.4
| population_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 />
| population_total   = 14619
| population_as_of   = 2011
| population_density_km2 = auto
<!-- demographics (section 1) -->| demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011)
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 />
| demographics1_title1 = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]]
| demographics1_info1 = 92.4%
| demographics1_title2 = [[Coloureds|Coloured]]
| demographics1_info2 = 2.1%
| demographics1_title3 = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]]
| demographics1_info3 = 0.3%
| demographics1_title4 = [[White South African|White]]
| demographics1_info4 = 5.0%
| demographics1_title5 = Other
| demographics1_info5 = 0.3%
<!-- demographics (section 2) -->| demographics_type2 = [[First language]]s (2011)
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 />
| demographics2_title1 = [[Sotho language|Sotho]]
| demographics2_info1 = 68.9%
| demographics2_title2 = [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]
| demographics2_info2 = 15.7%
| demographics2_title3 = [[Afrikaans]]
| demographics2_info3 = 7.7%
| demographics2_title4 = [[Zulu language|Zulu]]
| demographics2_info4 = 1.6%
| demographics2_title5 = Other
| demographics2_info5 = 6.0%
<!-- blank fields (section 2) -->
<!-- Other information -->| timezone1          = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]]
| utc_offset1        = +2
| postal_code_type   = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street)
| postal_code        = 9595
| postal2_code_type  = [[Post-office box|PO box]]
| postal2_code       = 9595
| area_code_type     = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]]
| area_code          = 056
| image_shield       = Vredefort wapen.png
}}

'''Vredefort''' ({{IPAc-en|local|'|f|r|ɪər|d|ə|f|ɔːr|t}}, {{IPA|af|ˈfriədəfɔrt|lang}}) is a small farming town in the [[Free State (South African province)|Free State]] province of [[South Africa]] with [[cattle]], [[peanut]]s, [[sorghum]], [[sunflowers]] and [[maize]] being farmed.  It is home to 3,000 residents.

The town was established in 1876 on a farm called Visgat, on the [[Vredefort impact structure]], the largest and oldest visible [[bolide]] [[impact crater]] in the world (with a diameter of {{convert|300|km|mi}}). It was this approximately {{convert|10|km|mi|adj=on}} wide bolide that led to the preservation of the [[gold]]-bearing reefs of the Free State some 2.02 billion years ago. The town's name, which translates to "peace [[Fortification|fort]]" in [[Afrikaans]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]], was derived from the peaceful conclusion to a threatened war between the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] and the [[Orange Free State]]. The British built a [[concentration camp]] here during the [[Second Boer War]] to house [[Boer]] women and children.

The Vredefort Dome is currently the largest and one of the oldest known asteroid impact sites in the world.<ref>[https://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/CIDiameterSort2.htm Earth Impact Database]</ref> It is South Africa's seventh [[World Heritage Site]] and its status is largely due to the efforts of research scientists from [[Wits University]].<ref>[http://www.vredefortdome.org/information.html Information] The Vredefort Dome Homepage</ref>

==Notable residents==
* [[Alba Bouwer]]
* [[T.T. Cloete]]
* [[Hendrik van den Bergh (police official)|Hendrik van den Bergh]]

==See also==
*[[Vredefort impact structure]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.parys.co.za Parys on the Vaal]
* [http://www.islandestate.co.za Vaal de Grace Estate]

{{Fezile Dabi District Municipality}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Ngwathe Local Municipality]]
[[Category:Second Boer War concentration camps]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1878]]


{{FreeState-geo-stub}}