Welkom

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Welkom Matjhabeng
Goldfields Mall
Coat of arms
Nickname(s):  Circle City; City Within a Garden; Mvela
Welkom Show map of Free State (South African province) Welkom Show map of South Africa Welkom Show map of Africa
Coordinates: 27°58′59″S 26°43′15″E / 27.98306°S 26.72083°E / -27.98306; 26.72083
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Lejweleputswa
Municipality	Matjhabeng
Area [1]
• Total	167.6 km2 (64.7 sq mi)
Elevation	1,435 m (4,708 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	64,130
• Density	380/km2 (990/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black	60.7%
• White	26.9%
• Coloured	11.1%
• Indian/Asian	0.9%
• Other	0.4%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	38.4%
• Sotho	33.4%
• English	10.7%
• Xhosa	8.9%
• Other	8.5%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	9459
PO box	9460
Area code	057
Website	Official website

Welkom (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈvɛlkɔm]) is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about 140 kilometres (90 mi) northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city's Sesotho name, Matjhabeng means 'where nations meet', derived from the migrant labour system, where people of various countries such as Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique etc. met to work in the mines of the gold fields.

A settlement was laid out on a farm named "Welkom" (which is the Afrikaans and Dutch word for "welcome") after gold was discovered in the region, and it was officially proclaimed a town in 1948. The town became a municipality in 1961.^[2] It now falls in the Matjhabeng Municipality, part of the Lejweleputswa District. Welkom was officially declared a city on 14 February 1968.