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Transvaal

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.37 sec.
Transvaal (trănzväl`), former province, NE South Africa. With the new constitution of 1994, it was divided into Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo), Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Veereeniging (now Gauteng), and part of North West prov. The Transvaal was bounded on the N and W by the Limpopo River, which forms the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana, on the E by Mozambique and Swaziland, and on the S by the Vaal River, the border with Orange Free State (now Free State). It was mainly situated in the highveld, at an altitude of 3,000 to 6,000 ft (910–1,830 m). Pretoria Pretoria (prĭtô`rēə), city (1991 pop.
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 and Johannesburg Johannesburg (jōhăn`ĭsbörg', yōhä`nəsbörkh'), city (1991 pop.
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 (both now in Gauteng) were the capital and the largest city, respectively. Other leading cities (all also now in Gauteng) included Brakpan Brakpan (brăk`păn), city (1991 pop. 130,463), Gauteng, NE South Africa. It is a gold- and coal-mining center and has an ironworks.
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, Germiston Germiston (jûr`mĭstən), city (1991 pop. 171,541), Gauteng, NE South Africa, on the Witwatersrand .
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, Krugersdorp Krugersdorp (kr`gərzdôrp), city (1991 pop.
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, Springs Springs, city (1991 pop. 157,702), Gauteng, NE South Africa. It is an industrial center of the Witwatersrand , a gold- and uranium-mining region. Manufacturing has replaced mining in economic importance and includes processed metals, chemicals, paper, and foodstuffs.
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, and Vereeniging Vereeniging (fərē`nĭkhĭng) [Afrik.,=union], city (1991 pop. 345,000), Gauteng, NE South Africa on the Vaal River.
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.

History

The Sotho and Venda peoples (both Bantu-speaking peoples) are thought to have settled in the Transvaal as early as the 8th cent. In the mid-1830s Afrikaner farmers (Boers Boer (br, bôr) [Du.
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), mainly from the Cape Colony (see Cape Province Cape Province, former province, S South Africa. Under the South African constitution of 1994 it was divided into Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape, and part of a fourth province, North West.
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), came to the region (see Trek, Great Trek, Great (trĕk), the journey by Afrikaner farmers ( Boers ) who left the Cape Colony to escape British domination and eventually
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). They scattered over the huge territory but were unable to form a strong government. In the Sand River Convention (1852) Great Britain, which at the time also held Cape Colony and Natal (see KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (kwäz`l
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), recognized the right of the Boers beyond the Vaal River to administer their own affairs.

In 1857 the South African Republic was inaugurated in the SW Transvaal but claimed sovereignty over the whole territory. Martin Pretorius, son of the Boer leader Andries Pretorius Pretorius, Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus (prĭtôr`ēəs, Du.
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, was its first president. In the 1860s and 70s the South African Republic expanded in size, and there were isolated finds of gold, diamonds, and copper. However, by the late 1870s the republic was bankrupt.

In 1877, Britain annexed the South African Republic after only a mild formal protest by its president, T. F. Burgers. In late 1880, however, the Boers began an armed revolt against the British and proclaimed a new republic. After defeats at Laing's Nek, Ingogo, and Majuba Hill Majuba Hill (məj
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 (all in Feb., 1881), Britain granted the South African Republic independence.

In 1883, S. J. P. Kruger Kruger, Paul (Stephanas Johannes Paulus) (kr
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 (Oom Paul Kruger) became the new republic's first president. In 1886 large gold deposits were discovered on what later came to be called the Witwatersrand, and many foreigners, especially Britons and Germans, entered the republic. The foreigners, called Uitlanders, threatened to overwhelm the Boers, whom they soon outnumbered by more than two to one. The Boers denied political rights to the foreigners and taxed them heavily. In Dec., 1895, Leander Starr Jameson Jameson, Sir Leander Starr, 1853–1917, British colonial administrator and statesman in South Africa. He went to Kimberley (1878) as a physician, became associated with Cecil Rhodes in his colonizing ventures, and was appointed (1891) administrator of
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 staged a raid into the Transvaal that was intended to trigger an uprising by foreigners against President Kruger. However, only a minor revolt materialized, and Jameson was captured.

Tension between Boers and Britons in S Africa increased after the Jameson Raid, and in 1899 the South African War South African War or Boer War, 1899–1902, war of the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State against Great Britain.
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 broke out. The Transvaal was annexed by Britain in 1900, but guerrilla fighting continued. The Treaty of Vereeniging (1902) ended the war and made the Transvaal (as well as the Orange Free State) a crown colony of the British Empire. The Transvaal, led by Jan Christiaan Smuts Smuts, Jan Christiaan (yän krĭs`tyän smŭts), 1870–1950, South African statesman and soldier, b. Cape Colony.
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 and Louis Botha Botha, Louis (bō`tə), 1862–1919, South African soldier and statesman.
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, was granted self-government in 1907 and in 1910 became a founding province of the Union of South Africa. In 1961, the Transvaal became a province of the Republic of South Africa.


Transvaal

 formerly (1856–77, 1881–1902) South African Republic

Former province, northeastern South Africa. Located between the Limpopo and Vaal rivers, the region was inhabited c. 1800 chiefly by various Bantu-speaking peoples. The Boers (Afrikaners) began migrating there during the Great Trek of the 1830s. They established the short-lived South African Republic in 1856. Discoveries of diamonds and gold deposits (1868–74) heightened British interest in the region, and the British annexed the republic in 1877. A Boer rebellion restored it in 1881. Further discovery of gold in 1886 brought more foreigners, who eventually outnumbered the Boers. In 1895 Leander Starr Jameson attempted to incite them to overthrow the Boer government. In 1899 Transvaal joined with Orange Free State against Britain in the South African (Boer) War. It was taken in 1900, and in 1902, following the British victory, it became a crown colony. It was granted self-government in 1906 and joined the Union (now Republic) of South Africa in 1910. In 1994 the Transvaal was split into four provinces. The region is extremely rich in mineral and agricultural resources.


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The only way he knew to make money was on the Stock Exchange, and he was very anxious to repeat the lucky experiment of the summer; but war had broken out with the Transvaal and nothing was doing in South Africans.
I was telling Evans one night, I remember, of some wonderful workings I had found whilst hunting koodoo and eland in what is now the Lydenburg district of the Transvaal.
 
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