Orange Free State

American  

[awr-inj free steyt, or-] / ˈɔr ɪndʒ ˈfri ˌsteɪt, ˈɒr- /

noun

1. a province in central Republic of South Africa: a Boer republic 1854–1900; a British colony Orange River Colony 1900–10. 49,647 sq. mi. (128,586 sq. km). Bloemfontein.

---

Orange Free State British  

noun

1. a former province of central South Africa, between the Orange and Vaal rivers: settled by Boers in 1836 after the Great Trek; annexed by Britain in 1848; became a province of South Africa in 1910; replaced in 1994 by the new province of Free State; economy based on agriculture and mineral resources (esp gold and uranium). Capital: Bloemfontein

---

Example Sentences

Cronje was appointed Orange Free State captain aged 21 and the batting all-rounder soon became a part of the post-apartheid South Africa team which re-emerged on the international stage.

From BBC • Jul. 30, 2025

In 1909, the British Cape Colony, Natal, and the Boer republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State had been combined to form a self-governing dominion within the British Empire.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

André Phillipus Brink was born May 29, 1935, in Vrede, a small community in the Orange Free State, then an independent state within the borders of South Africa.

From Washington Post • Feb. 14, 2015

Until recently, Black wildebeest were famously restricted to managed game reserves and ranches in Orange Free State and the Transvaal where they were essentially saved from extinction by farmers.

From Scientific American • Feb. 26, 2014

She was put in Kroonstad Prison, in the Orange Free State, but her experience there was not as horrendous as her previous stay in Pretoria.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela