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Griqualand West Griqualand Griekwaland-Wes | |||||||
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1800–1880 | |||||||
Griqua Flag† | |||||||
Status | British Colony (1871–1880) | ||||||
Capital | Kimberley | ||||||
Common languages | Dutch (written) proto-Afrikaans (spoken) English | ||||||
Demonym(s) | Griqua | ||||||
Government | Kapteinskap | ||||||
Kaptijn | |||||||
• 1800–1820 | Adam Kok I | ||||||
• 1820–1852 | Andries Waterboer | ||||||
• 1852–1871 | Nicolaas Waterboer | ||||||
History | |||||||
• Established | 1800 | ||||||
• British rule imposed | 1871 | ||||||
• Destablished | 1880 | ||||||
Area | |||||||
Estimate | 40,000 km2 (15,000 sq mi) | ||||||
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† The Griqua flag is a vertically flipped version of the "Vierkleur" used by the South African Republic. A single source dates its origin to 1903; whether or not Griqualand West actually deployed it is uncertain.[1] |
Historical states in present-day South Africa |
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South Africa portal |
Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, who established several states outside the expanding frontier of the Cape Colony. It was also ancestral home to the Tswana and Khoisan peoples.
In 1873 it was proclaimed as a British colony, with its capital at Kimberley, and in 1880 it was annexed by the Cape Colony. When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, Griqualand West was part of the Cape Province but continued to have its own "provincial" sports teams.