The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's geographical location to the north of the Vaal River. Its capital was

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

, which was also the country's executive capital.

History

In 1910, four British colonies united to form the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tr ...

. The

Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...

, which had been formed out of the bulk of the old

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when i ...

after the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

, became the Transvaal Province in the new union. Half a century later, in 1961, the union ceased to be part of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

and became the Republic of South Africa. The PWV (Pretoria-

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

Vereeniging Vereeniging () is a town located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was formerly s ...

) conurbation in the Transvaal, centred on Pretoria and Johannesburg, became South Africa's economic powerhouse, a position it still holds today as

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

Province. In 1994, after the fall of

, the former provinces were abolished, and the Transvaal ceased to exist. The south-central portion (including the PWV) became

, the northern portion became

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature ...

and the southeastern portion became

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. ...

. Most of the North West came from the southwestern portion of the old Transvaal, and a tiny segment of the Transvaal joined

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

. Even before 1994, the Transvaal Province was subdivided into regions for a number of purposes (such as municipal and district courts, and sporting divisions). These divisions included Northern Transvaal (present-day

and Pretoria), Eastern Transvaal (currently

), Western Transvaal (currently part of North West Province) and Southern Transvaal (now

Province).

Geography

The Transvaal province lay between the Vaal River in the south, and the Limpopo River in the north, roughly between and S, and 25 and 32 E. To its south it bordered with the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

and Natal provinces, to its west were the Cape Province and the

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in Southern Africa. It became the Republic ...

(later

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...

), to its north Rhodesia (later

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

), and to its east Portuguese East Africa (later

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

) and Swaziland. Except on the south-west, these borders were mostly well defined by natural features. Several

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...

s were entirely inside the Transvaal:

Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of t ...

KwaNdebele KwaNdebele was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Ndebele people. The homeland was created when the South African government purchased nineteen white-owned farms and install ...

, Gazankulu, KaNgwane and Lebowa. Parts of

Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...

were also in the Transvaal, with other parts in Cape Province and

. Within the Transvaal lies the Waterberg Massif, a prominent ancient geological feature of the South African landscape.

Regions

* PWV region (later Gauteng province) consisting of the

, which in turn consists of the

West Rand The West Rand is the name of the urban western part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. This area became settled by Europeans after a gold-bearing reef discovered in 1886 and sparked the gold r ...

and the

East Rand The East Rand is the urban eastern part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation in South Africa. The region extends from Alberton in the west to Nigel in the east, and south down to Nigel. It includ ...

, as well as Johannesburg; the

Vaal Triangle The Vaal Triangle is a triangular area formed by Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and Sasolburg about 60 km south of Johannesburg, South Africa. The area forms a substantial urban complex. Meyerton, just north of Vereeniging, is also generally ...

and Pretoria. * The North West *

Districts in 1991

Districts of the province and population at the 1991 census. *

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

: 1,574,631 * Alberton: 367,929 * Germiston: 171,541 * Boksburg: 195,905 * Benoni: 288,629 * Kempton Park: 354,787 * Randburg: 341,430 * Roodepoort: 219,149 *

Westonaria Westonaria is a town in the west of Gauteng province of South Africa. It is situated in the Rand West City Local Municipality, part of the West Rand District Municipality. During the apartheid era, Africans lived outside town in Bekkersdal, Gaute ...

: 160,531 *

Oberholzer Oberholzer is a town in West Rand District Municipality in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The town is 85 km south-west of Johannesburg, just north-west of Carletonville. History Laid out on the farm ''Wonderfontein'', it was procla ...

: 177,768 * Randfontein: 116,405 * Krugersdorp: 196,213 * Brakpan: 130,463 * Springs: 157,702 * Nigel: 92,881 *

Delmas Delmas may refer to: People * Antoine Guillaume Delmas (1766–1813), French revolutionary and Napoleonic general * Benjamin Delmas (born 1976), French ice dancer * Bert Delmas (Albert Charles Delmas, 1911–1979), American baseball player * C ...

: 48,614 *

: 667,700 * Wonderboom: 266,153 * Soshanguve: 146,334 * Cullinan: 32,006 *

Vanderbijlpark Vanderbijlpark is an industrial town with approximately 95 000 inhabitants, situated on the Vaal River in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa. The city is named after Hendrik van der Bijl, an electrical engineer and industrialist. V ...

: 434,004 *

: 250,511 *

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

: 77,055 * Balfour: 38,311 * Standerton: 85,893 * Hoëveldrif ( Highveld Ridge): 155,881 *

Bethal Bethal () is a farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The farms in the region produce maize, sunflower seeds, sorghum, rye and potatoes. The town lies east of Johannesburg on the N17 National Route. History The town originated on an old farm ...

: 77,780 * Volksrust: 29,924 * Amersfoort: 33,461 * Wakkerstroom: 33,246 * Piet Retief: 64,052 * Ermelo: 111,082 * Carolina: 30,438 * Bronkhorstspruit: 38,605 *

Witbank Witbank (), officially Emalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where ...

: 173,281 * Middelburg: 140,015 *

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

: 28,973 * Waterval-Boven: 9,300 * Groblersdal: 57,742 * Moutse (main town

Dennilton Dennilton is a town in Sekhukhune District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town, which consists of 99.5% of Black residents, lies on the provincial border with Mpumalanga and many travel to their places of work in Gaute ...

): 102,179 * Nelspruit: 61,921 * Barberton: 72,165 * Witrivier: 30,235 * Pelgrimsrus (main town Sabie): 29,063 * Lydenburg: 36,976 * Letaba (main town

Tzaneen Tzaneen () is a large tropical garden town situated in the Mopani District Municipality of the Limpopo province in South Africa. It is situated in a high rainfall fertile region with tropical and subtropical agriculture taking place in a region ...

): 59,900 * Phalaborwa: 30,126 * Soutpansberg (main town

Louis Trichardt Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) Louis is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Antoine Louis (1723–1792), French surgeon and physiol ...

): 35,839 *

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in t ...

: 22,959 * Pietersburg: 64,207 * Potgietersrus: 69,571 * Waterberg (main town

Nylstroom Modimolle, also known as Nylstroom, is a town located near the southern edge of the Waterberg Massif in Limpopo province, South Africa. It is a medium-sized town that focuses primarily on agriculture and farming (citrus, grapes and cattle) as well ...

): 48,991 *

Ellisras Lephalale (formerly Ellisras) is a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa immediately east of the Waterberg Coalfield. The town was established as Ellisras in 1960 and named after Patrick Ellis and Piet Erasmus who settled on a ...

: 24,530 *

Thabazimbi Thabazimbi is an iron mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is at the feet of the Ysterberg and is surrounded by the Witfonteinrand and Boshofberg with the majestic Kransberg in the background. The name Thabazimbi mean ...

: 48,844 * Warmbad: 41,692 * Brits: 111,798 * Rustenburg: 125,307 * Swartruggens: 12,607 * Marico: 38,983 * Koster: 29,228 *

Ventersdorp Ventersdorp is a town of 4,200 in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. It was the seat of the defunct Ventersdorp Local Municipality until 2016. Ventersdorp is centrally located, making it easier to access ...

: 36,315 * Coligny: 22,154 * Lichtenburg: 79,013 * Delareyville: 36,036 *

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier ( Afrikaans for "pretty ri ...

: 185,552 * Klerksdorp: 321,478 *

Wolmaransstad Wolmaransstad (Afrikaans for "Wolmarans City") is a maize-farming town situated on the N12 between Johannesburg and Kimberley in North West Province of South Africa. The town lies in an important alluvial diamond-mining area and it is the ...

: 61,497 * Schweizer-Reneke: 46,893 * Bloemhof: 15,291 * Christiana: 13,596

Administrators

Sports

The province was divided into a number of sporting teams. These teams were renamed after the Transvaal became defunct, however their traditional territories have remained unchanged in many cases, even though they overlap the boundaries of the Transvaal's successor provinces. Examples of this include the Blue Bulls (formerly ''Northern Transvaal''), which governs rugby in Pretoria (now part of Gauteng) and Limpopo Province, and the Golden Lions (formerly ''Transvaal'') formed in 1889. The Orlando Pirates Football Club was founded in 1937 and was originally based in Orlando, Soweto and Kaizer Chiefs were founded. January 1970. Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. originated from Marabastad, a cosmopolitan area north west of the Pretoria CBD in the early 1960s. Cricket teams from the former Transvaal include ''Transvaal'' (later

) which represented the southern parts of the province, and ''Northern Transvaal'' (later Northerns) that represents the northern parts of Gauteng, including Pretoria, as well as areas further north.

References

{{Coord, 25, S, 30, E, type:country_source:kolossus-nlwiki, display=title History of South Africa Former provinces of South Africa States and territories established in 1910 States and territories disestablished in 1994 1910 establishments in South Africa 1994 disestablishments in South Africa