In which South African city was J.R.R. Tolkien born in 1892?

J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, in the Orange Free State, on 3 January 1892.

His father, Arthur Tolkien, worked as a bank manager in Bloemfontein, then a British-administered territory in southern Africa. Tolkien spent only his earliest years there. After Arthur died in 1896, Tolkien, his mother Mabel, and his younger brother Hilary returned to England.

The birthplace is sometimes confused with Tolkien’s English upbringing, especially Birmingham and Oxford, the places most closely associated with his education and career. Bloemfontein nevertheless remains an important biographical detail: it was the first city connected with the author who later created Middle-earth, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.