Kroonstad (Afrikaans directly translated "Crown City") is the third largest city in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom) and lies two hours' drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, and is occasionally used as a synonym of the town itself. It is the second-largest commercial and urban centre in the Northern Free State (after Welkom), and an important railway junction on the main line from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Maokeng is Sesotho and means "place of the thorn trees (mimosa trees)".