Descrittore

Termine preferito

(PIQ) Repubblica del Sudafrica   Cerca

Nota d'ambito

Use for dates from May 31, 1961 to the present. See also: Union of South Africa. (en-US)

Definizione

Location: South coast of the African continent on the Indian Ocean, bordered in 2000 by Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. The small kingdom of Lesotho lies entirely within South Africa. Capital cities: Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial). History: The Dutch (later called the Boers) first settled in the Cape of Good Hope in the mid 17th century and then moved inward by the mid 18th century. The Orange Free State and the Transvaal were founded by the Boers in the 1850s. The Congress of Vienna re-assigned the Cape to the British in 1815, setting the stage for a series of conflicts between the British and the Boers over territory and treatment of the native population which culminated in the Boer or South African War from 1899 to 1902. After the British victory, the Union of South Africa was established in May 1910 out of the Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, and the Transvaal. The black population founded the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912 to protest inferior treatment. The Union participated in WWI and WWII on the side of the Allies. After the war, the Nationalist party controlled the government, implementing a series of apartheid laws which resulted in protests by the black population in the 1950s and 1960s with violent retaliation by the government. South Africa left the British Commonwealth in 1961 to become a republic and the ANC became a clandestine organization. Isolated by international criticism of apartheid, South Africa backed the white hegemonies in countries such as Angola and Rhodesia. Riots broke out in the 1970s in townships such as Soweto but the new constitution in 1984 still excluded the black population. ANC leader Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990 led to the dismantling of apartheid and Mandela's election as the first black president in 1994. The new constitution became official in 1997. (en-US)

Fonte

Microsoft Encarta Interactive World Atlas 2001. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Corporation, 2000.

Termini più generici

• Africa

Termini più specifici

• Repubblica del Sudafrica 1961 (31 maggio) - 1984 (2 settembre)