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

| subdivision_type2 = District

| subdivision_name2 = Fezile Dabi

| subdivision_type3 = Municipality

| subdivision_name3 = Ngwathe

| subdivision_type4 = Main Place

| established_title = Established

| established_date = 1878{{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}}

| leader_title = Councillor

| area_footnotes = Sum of the Main Places [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/477005 Vredefort] and [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/477006 Mokwallo] from Census 2011.

| area_total_km2 = 21.4

| population_footnotes =

| population_total = 14619

| population_as_of = 2011

| population_density_km2 = auto

| demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011)

| demographics1_footnotes =

| demographics1_title1 = Black African

| demographics1_info1 = 92.4%

| demographics1_title2 = Coloured

| demographics1_info2 = 2.1%

| demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian

| demographics1_info3 = 0.3%

| demographics1_title4 = White

| demographics1_info4 = 5.0%

| demographics1_title5 = Other

| demographics1_info5 = 0.3%

| demographics_type2 = First languages (2011)

| demographics2_footnotes =

| demographics2_title1 = Sotho

| demographics2_info1 = 68.9%

| demographics2_title2 = Xhosa

| demographics2_info2 = 15.7%

| demographics2_title3 = Afrikaans

| demographics2_info3 = 7.7%

| demographics2_title4 = Zulu

| demographics2_info4 = 1.6%

| demographics2_title5 = Other

| demographics2_info5 = 6.0%

| timezone1 = SAST

| utc_offset1 = +2

| postal_code_type = Postal code (street)

| postal_code = 9595

| postal2_code_type = PO box

| postal2_code = 9595

| area_code_type = 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 province of South Africa with cattle, peanuts, 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 fort" in Afrikaans and Dutch, was derived from the peaceful conclusion to a threatened war between the 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.[https://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/CIDiameterSort2.htm Earth Impact Database] It is South Africa's seventh World Heritage Site and its status is largely due to the efforts of research scientists from Wits University.[http://www.vredefortdome.org/information.html Information] The Vredefort Dome Homepage