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Kroonstad (Afrikaans for ''Crown City'', pronounced ()) is the third-largest town in the Free State province of South Africa and lies two hours drive from Gauteng. Kroonstad was established in 1855 by the Irish pioneer Joseph Orpen, and was the first town founded after the independence of the Orange Free State. While ''"Kroon"'' means ''crown'', this was in fact the name of a horse that had drowned in the nearby ford. A lover of animals, Orpen had witnessed the incident, and named the infant settlement in honour of the unfortunate creature. Similarly, the ford in question came to be known as ''Kroondrift''.〔 During the Second Boer War, from 13 March to 11 May 1900, the town became the capital of the Orange Free State, and subsequently the site of a British concentration camp to accommodate Boer women and children. It is the second largest urban center in the Northern Free State, and an important railway junction on the main line from Cape Town to Johannesburg. ==Economy== Kroonstad is the centre of a rich agricultural district, producing maize, wheat, dairy and meat products and wool. The main industry is agriculture. The Bloemhoek Dam lies just east of the city and supplies much of its water needs. A caravan park and many more camp sites on the banks of the willow-lined Vals River (Valsrivier) are frequented by anglers and watersport enthusiasts. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kroonstad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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