Transvaal

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For the Russian theme park, see Transvaal park.

The Transvaal (lit. beyond the Vaal [pale river]) was one of the provinces of South Africa from 1910 until 1994. The province no longer exists, and its territory now forms the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga and part of the North West Province. While no longer existing as an administative unit, the Transvaal is still a useful geographical name.

History

Main article: South African Republic

The Transvaal was colonized by Boer settlers who exited the British-dominated Cape Colony in the 1830's and 1840's in the Great Trek. They easily overcame the native peoples and established several republics outside British control. In the 1850's, the British came to an understanding with the Boer republics, granting independence to the South African Republic (ZAR) in what is now the Transvaal. Britain annexed the ZAR again in 1877 as a way of resolving the border dispute between the Boers and the Zulus. This also saved the Transvaal from financial ruin, as the government had completely run out of money. It regained its independence in 1881 after the First Boer War. Beginning in 1885, the discovery of a tremendous lode of gold in the Witwatersrand led to the immigration of many foreigners (uitlanders) to the Transvaal. Increasing fear of British designs on the region (fears encouraged by the Jameson Raid) led the Boers to make a pre-emptive strike in 1899. The Second Boer War resulted in the incorporation of the Transvaal into the British Empire in 1900. Ten years later, the Boer republics joined with the Cape Colony to form the Union of South Africa.

In 1961, the union ceased to be part of the Commonwealth of Nations and became the Republic of South Africa. The PWV (Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging) area in the Transvaal (now Gauteng Province) became the South Africa's economic powerhouse, a position it still holds today.

In 1994, after the fall of apartheid, the former provinces and homelands were restructured, and a separate Transvaal province no longer exists. Parts of the old Transvaal now belong to the new Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.

The Transvaal is still used as a provincial division of the High Court of South Africa, as of 2006.

Geography

The Transvaal province lay between Vaal River in the south, and the Limpopo River in the north, roughly between 22 1/2 and 27 1/2 S, and 25 and 32 E. Within the Transvaal lies the Waterberg Massif, a prominent ancient geological feature of the South African landscape. To its south it bordered with the Orange Free State and Natal provinces, to its west were the Cape Province and the Bechuanaland Protectorate (later Botswana), to its north Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe), and to its east Portuguese East Africa (later Mozambique) and Swaziland. Except on the south-west, these borders were mostly well defined natural features.

Several Bantustans were entirely inside the Transvaal: Venda, KwaNdebele, Gazankulu, KaNgwane and Lebowa. Parts of Bophuthatswana were also in the Transvaal, with other parts in Cape Province and Orange Free State.

Divisions:

• Zoutpansberg

Cities in the Transvaal:

• Heidelberg
• Johannesburg
• Messina
• Nelspruit
• Pietersburg
• Pretoria
• Vereeniging

See also

• History of South Africa

External links

• [Transvaal public-domain article] from a 1911 encyclopedia contains much more information about the early history of the Transvaal and its geology.
• [Public-domain historical maps of South Africa]

 

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