The province's central plains make the landscape quite flat so that you can see far into the distance. Bloemfontein, the capital city and also judicial capital city of South Africa, is in the south-west corner of the province.

The Vaal river to the north forms a natural boundary with Gauteng Province. To the east is the international border with the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.

The central plains was the home to the San hunters and Sotho farmers for thousands of years until the white colonists trekking across the Orange and Vaal Rivers, away from the British Empire, appeared. And during the last few decades of the nineteenth century it saw prospectors criss-crossing it to the Kimberley diamond mines and the newly discovered gold reef that became Johannesburg.

The province is generally very hot and sunny and the arid climate makes it very suitable for growing corn and raising sheep because of the huge grass supply. It also is characterised by spectacular sandstone mountain ranges that have a golden colour. The prominent Clarens sandstone vertical cliffs are consequently called the Golden Gate where visitors will find the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.