British Cape Colony in the context of "Treaty of Amiens"

The Union of South Africa (Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Afrika; Afrikaans: Unie van Suid-Afrika, pronunciation) was a British Dominion and, later, a Commonwealth realm in southern Africa from 1910 to 1961. It was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies. It included the territories that were formerly part of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.

Following World War I, the Union of South Africa was a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles and became one of the founding members of the League of Nations. It was mandated by the League with the administration of South West Africa (now known as Namibia). South West Africa became treated in most respects as another province of the Union, but it never was formally annexed.

The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (Afrikaans: Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province (Afrikaans: Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape (Afrikaans: Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Colony, as well as Walvis Bay, and had Cape Town as its capital. In 1994, the Cape Province was divided into the new Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces, along with part of the North West.

The Afrikaner Bond (Afrikaans and Dutch for "Afrikaner Union"; South African Dutch: Afrikander Bond) was founded as an anti-imperialist political party in 19th century southern Africa. While its origins were largely in the Orange Free State, it came to have a significant presence across the region, and especially in the Cape Colony and the Transvaal.

The Afrikaner Bond was distinct from the later Afrikaner Broederbond which, while similarly named, was a secret cultural organisation formed in 1918, not a political party.

Boers (/bʊərz/ BOORZ; Afrikaans: Boere; [ˈbuːrə]) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch Cape Colony, which the United Kingdom incorporated into the British Empire in 1806. The name of the group is derived from Trekbœr then later "boer", which means "farmer" in Dutch and Afrikaans.

In addition, the term Boeren also applied to those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to colonise the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal (together known as the Boer Republics), and to a lesser extent Natal. They emigrated from the Cape to live beyond the reach of the British colonial administration, with their reasons for doing so primarily being the new Anglophone common law system being introduced into the Cape and the British abolition of slavery in 1833.