Potchefstroom: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Potchefstroom is a town in South Africa, situated on the banks of the Mooi River (literally beautiful river), 120 km west-southwest of Johannesburg.

The town, founded in 1838, served as the first capital of the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR) (South African Republic in English) and was created by Afrikaans-speaking Boer settlers known as the Voortrekkers who were fleeing the oppression of British rule in the Cape Colony.

For a short time during the 1840s the towns of Potchefstroom and Winburg as well as their surrounding territories were joined in a political entity known as the Republic of Winburg-Potchefstroom. Voortrekker leader Hendrik Potgieter was elected as head of the republic.

Currently Potchefstroom is mainly an academic town as it is home to the Potchefstroom University.