Afrikaners

"Afrikaner" redirects here. For other uses, see Afrikaner (disambiguation).

Afrikaners
Total population
c. 2.8–3.5 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
 South Africa2,710,461 (2011)[2]
 Namibia92,400 (2003)[3]
 Zambia≈41,000 (2006)[a]
 United Kingdom≈40,000 (2006)[a]
 Botswana≈20,000 (2010)[4]
 Eswatini≈13,000 (2006)[a]
 Australia5,079–35,031 (2011)[b]
 New Zealand1,197–27,387 (2013)[c]
 Argentina650 (2019)[7]
 Netherlands<41,300 (2023)[8]
Languages
First language
Afrikaans
Second or third language
Religion
Mostly
Reformed tradition (see Afrikaner Calvinism; specifically: Dutch Reformed • Dutch Reformed of Africa • Reformed • Afrikaans Protestant) • Protestantism • Roman Catholicism
Minority
Irreligion (Atheism, Agnosticism)
Related ethnic groups

Afrikaners (Afrikaans: [afriˈkɑːnərs]) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.[9] Until 1994, they dominated South Africa's politics as well as the country's commercial agricultural sector.[10]

Afrikaans, a language primarily descended from Dutch, is the mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds.[10] According to the South African National Census of 2022, 10.6% of South Africans claimed to speak Afrikaans as a first language at home, making it the third most widely spoken home language in the country.[11]

The arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama at Calicut, India, in 1498 opened a gateway of free access to Asia from Western Europe around the Cape of Good Hope. This access necessitated the founding and safeguarding of trade stations along the African and Asian coasts.[9] The Portuguese landed in Mossel Bay in 1498, explored Table Bay two years later, and by 1510 had started raiding inland.[12] Shortly afterwards, the Dutch Republic sent merchant vessels to India and, in 1602, founded the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC).[13] As the volume of traffic rounding the Cape increased, the VOC recognised its natural harbour as an ideal watering point for the long voyage around Africa to East Asia and established a victualling station there in 1652.[9] VOC officials did not favour the permanent settlement of Europeans in their trading empire, although during the 140 years of Dutch rule many VOC servants retired or were discharged and remained as private citizens.[13] Furthermore, the exigencies of supplying local garrisons and passing fleets compelled the administration to confer free status on employees and oblige them to become independent farmers.[14]

Encouraged by the success of this experiment, the company extended free passage from 1685 to 1707 for Dutch families wishing to settle at the Cape.[14] In 1688, it sponsored the settlement of 200 French Huguenot refugees forced into exile by the Edict of Fontainebleau.[15] The terms under which the Huguenots agreed to immigrate were the same as those offered to other VOC subjects, including free passage and the requisite farm equipment on credit. Prior attempts at cultivating vineyards or exploiting olive groves for fruit had been unsuccessful, and it was hoped that Huguenot colonists accustomed to Mediterranean agriculture could succeed where the Dutch had failed.[16] They were augmented by VOC soldiers returning from Asia, predominantly Germans channeled into Amsterdam by the company's extensive recruitment network and thence overseas.[17][18] Despite their diverse nationalities, the colonists used a common language and adopted similar attitudes towards politics.[19] The attributes they shared served as a basis for the evolution of Afrikaner identity and consciousness.[20]

In the twentieth century, Afrikaner nationalism took the form of political parties and closed societies, such as the Broederbond. In 1914, the National Party was founded to promote Afrikaner interests.[9] It gained power by winning South Africa's 1948 general elections.[21] The party was noted for implementing a harsh policy of racial segregation (apartheid) and declaring South Africa a republic in 1961.[9] Following decades of domestic unrest and international sanctions that resulted in bilateral and multi-party negotiations to end apartheid, South Africa held its first multiracial elections under a universal franchise in 1994.[22] As a result of this election the National Party was ousted from power, and was eventually dissolved in 2005.[21]

  1. ^ "Afrikaners constitute nearly three million out of approximately 53 million inhabitants of the Republic of South Africa, plus as many as half a million in diaspora." Afrikaner Archived 28 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine – Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Census 2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Demographics". Namibiagovernment.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  4. ^ Chris McIntyre (2010). Botswana: Okavango Delta - Chobe - Northern Kalahari (2010 ed.). Bradt Travel Guides Ltd. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-84162-308-5.
  5. ^ The People of Australia: Statistics from the 2011 Census – Department of Immigration and Border Protection. p. 29, p. 55. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  6. ^ 2013 Census QuickStats about culture and identity Archived 15 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Excel file) – Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Afrikaans is making a comeback in Argentina - along with koeksisters and milktart". Business Insider South Africa. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Population; sex, age, country of origin, country of birth, 1 January". Statistics Netherlands.
  9. ^ a b c d e Entry: Cape Colony. Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1933. James Louis Garvin, editor.
  10. ^ a b Kaplan, Irving. Area Handbook for the Republic of South Africa (PDF). pp. 46–771. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Census 2022: Statistical Release" (PDF). statssa.gov.za. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  12. ^ Alexander Wilmot & John Centlivres Chase. History of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope: From Its Discovery to the Year 1819 (2010 ed.). Claremont: David Philip (Pty) Ltd. pp. 1–548. ISBN 978-1144830159.
  13. ^ a b Van Goor, Jurrien (2004). Prelude to Colonialism: The Dutch in Asia (2005 ed.). Verloren B.V., Uitgeverij. pp. 9–83. ISBN 978-9065508065.
  14. ^ a b Keegan, Timothy (1996). Colonial South Africa and the Origins of the Racial Order (1996 ed.). David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd. pp. 15–37. ISBN 978-0813917351.
  15. ^ Greaves, Adrian (2 September 2014). The Tribe that Washed its Spears: The Zulus at War (2013 ed.). Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. pp. 36–55. ISBN 978-1629145136.
  16. ^ Theale, George McCall (4 May 1882). Chronicles of Cape Commanders, or, An abstract of original manuscripts in the Archives of the Cape Colony. Cape Town: WA Richards & Sons 1882. pp 24—387.
  17. ^ Nigel Worden, Elizabeth Van Heyningen & Vivian Bickford-Smith (2004). Cape Town: The Making of a City (2012 ed.). New Africa Books. pp. 51–93. ISBN 978-0864866561.
  18. ^ Groenewald, Gerald (2015). D'Maris Coffman, Adrian Leonard & William O'Reilly (ed.). The Atlantic World (2015 ed.). Routledge Books. pp. 15–37. ISBN 978-0415467049.
  19. ^ Worden, Nigel (5 August 2010). Slavery in Dutch South Africa (2010 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 94–140. ISBN 978-0521152662.
  20. ^ Tamarkin, Mordechai (1996). Cecil Rhodes and the Cape Afrikaners: The Imperial Colossus and the Colonial Parish Pump (1996 ed.). Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. pp. 24–92. ISBN 978-0714642673.
  21. ^ a b "National Party (NP) | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  22. ^ "1994 Election – Apartheid Museum". www.apartheidmuseum.org. Retrieved 18 November 2023.


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