Note: Originally populated by Bantu peoples; Boers settled during the Great Trek of the 1830s; South African Republic created in 1857; annexed by Great Britain 1877-1881; republic restored in 1881; defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902) & became a crown colony. In 1994 the Transvaal was split into four provinces: Northern (now Limpopo), Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging (now Gauteng), Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), and part of North-West.