Cape Province

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Cape Province

The Cape of Good Hope Province (commonly referred to simply as the Cape Province) was a province in the Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa

The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day state of the Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910, with the previously separate colonies of the Cape Colony, Colony of Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, plus the German South-West Africa colony in 1915, becoming Provinces in the Union of...
and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Colony

Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by French Revolution, so that the French revolutionaries could not take possession of...
, and had Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the City of Cape Town. It is the provincial Capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislature capital of South Africa, where the Parliament of South Africa and many government offices are located....
as its capital.

It was created in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed, and included the original Cape Colony and other regions such as British Bechuanaland (not to be confused with the Bechuanaland Protectorate

Bechuanaland Protectorate

The Bechuanaland Protectorate was a protectorate established on March 31, 1885, by the United Kingdom in southern Africa. It became the Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966....
, now Botswana

Botswana

The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....
), Griqualand East

Griqualand East

Griqualand East is a territory that now forms part of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, south of the Umzimvubu River, around Kokstad....
(the area around Kokstad

Kokstad

Kokstad may refer to:*Kokstad, Norway*Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa...
) and Griqualand West

Griqualand West

Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km? that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province, which was inhabited by the Griqua people....
(area around Kimberley

Kimberley, Northern Cape

Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape Province. It is located near the confluences of the Vaal River and Orange Rivers....
).

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Encyclopedia

The Cape of Good Hope Province (commonly referred to simply as the Cape Province) was a province in the Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa

Cape Colony

Cape Town

Bechuanaland Protectorate

Botswana

Griqualand East

Griqualand East is a territory that now forms part of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, south of the Umzimvubu River, around Kokstad....
(the area around Kokstad

Kokstad

Kokstad may refer to:*Kokstad, Norway*Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa...
) and Griqualand West

Griqualand West

Kimberley, Northern Cape

Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape Province. It is located near the confluences of the Vaal River and Orange Rivers....
). This gave the Cape Province an area similar in size to the U.S. state of Texas

Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
.

At the time of the formation of the Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
was only four provinces: Transvaal

Transvaal

File:Flag of Transvaal.svgFile:Transvaal map.pngFile:Spelterini Transvaal.jpgThe Transvaal is the name of an area of northern South Africa....
(South African Republic

South African Republic

The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century....
), Natal

Natal Province

Natal, meaning Christmas in Portuguese language, was a name given by the Portuguese people Vasco da Gama to the place after he had arrived on ship on the 25th of December and found the African Royal King Menzi Xaba and his people celebrating the birth of a king, Nkayishana, Menzi's son....
(Natalia Republic

Natalia Republic

The Natalia Republic was a short-lived Boer republic, established in 1839 by local Afrikaans-speaking Voortrekkers shortly after the famous Battle of Blood River....
), Orange Free State

Orange Free State

The Republic of the Orange Free State was an independent Boere-Afrikaner republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British Orange River Colony and a Provinces of South Africa of the Union of South Africa....
and the Cape Province.

During the apartheid era the country was chopped up into a number of additional pieces which were known as the four TBVC States

Provinces of South Africa

South Africa is currently divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the South African general election, 1994, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated and the four existing provinces were divided into nine....
.

After the first fully democratic elections in 1994 all the pieces were put together again and divided into what are now the current nine provinces of South Africa

Provinces of South Africa

Walvis Bay

Walvis Bay , is the name of both a port in Namibia and the bay on which it lies.The bay has been a haven for sea vessels because of its natural deepwater harbour, protected by the Pelican Point sand spit, being the only natural harbour of any size along the country's coast....
was handed to Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic Ocean coast. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south....
.

Griqualand East was transferred to Natal Province

Natal Province

Transkei

The Transkei?which means "the area beyond the Kei River"?is a region situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It is also the name of an Apartheid-era Bantustan corresponding to this territory....
was declared independent, since it was cut off from the rest of the province. The Transkei (1976) and Ciskei

Ciskei

Ciskei was a Bantustan in the south east of South Africa. It consisted 2,970 square miles , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province and possessing a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean....
(1981) regions were declared independent of South Africa, after they were formerly part of the Cape Province. (They were re-incorporated into South Africa in 1994, both part of the new Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a Provinces of South Africa of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, as well as the eastern portion of the Cape Province....
province)

It was the only province where coloured

Coloured

In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers or referred to an ethnic group of people who possess sub-Saharan African ancestry, but not enough to be considered Black people under the law of South Africa....
s (mixed-race people) could vote, although this right was removed by the apartheid government in 1956. The government had to incorporate many extra senators in parliament to force through this change.

Since 1994, it has been broken up into three smaller administrative units: the Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a Provinces of South Africa in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the huge Cape Province....
, Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape

Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is a large, sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa of South Africa, created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up....
. Parts of the Cape Province were also absorbed into the North West

North West (South African province)

North West is a Provinces of South Africa of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng....
.

Cape Province

See also

External links