Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa Unie van Zuid-Afrika (Dutch) Unie van Suid-Afrika (Afrikaans)
1910–1961
Flag (from 1928) Coat of arms
Motto: Ex Unitate Vires (Latin) ("From Unity, Strength")
Anthem: "God Save the King" (1910–52); "God Save the Queen" (1952–57)[a] "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (1938–61)[1] (English: "The Call of South Africa")
Union of South Africa with South West Africa shown as a hatched area (occupied in 1915 and administered as 5th province of the Union under a C-mandate from the League of Nations)
Capital	Cape Town (legislative) Pretoria (administrative) Bloemfontein (judicial) Pietermaritzburg (archival)
Largest city	Johannesburg[2][3]
Ethnic groups (1960)	68.3% Black 19.2% White  9.4% Coloured  3.0% Indian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy under a dominant-party herrenvolk regime (1948–1961)
Monarch
• 1910–1936	George V
• 1936	Edward VIII
• 1936–1952	George VI
• 1952–1961	Elizabeth II
Governor-General
• 1910–1914 (first)	Viscount Gladstone
• 1959–1961 (last)	C. R. Swart
Prime Minister
• 1910–1919 (first)	Louis Botha
• 1958–1961 (last)	Hendrik Verwoerd
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Assembly
History
• Union	31 May 1910
• Self-governance	22 August 1934
• Republic	31 May 1961
Area
• Total	2,045,329 km2 (789,706 sq mi)
Population
• 1960 census	15,994,000
Currency	South African pound (1910–61), South African rand (1961)
Preceded by Succeeded by Cape Colony Natal Colony Orange River Colony Transvaal Colony South Africa
Today part of	Namibia South Africa

The Union of South Africa (Dutch: Unie van Zuid-Afrika; Afrikaans: Unie van Suid-Afrika; pronunciation^ⓘ) 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.^[4] It included the territories that were formerly a 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.

Like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the Union of South Africa was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire. Its full sovereignty was confirmed with the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster 1931. It was governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with the Crown being represented by a governor-general. The Union came to an end with the enactment of the constitution of 1961, by which it became a republic and left the Commonwealth of Nations. The Republic of South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth on 1 June 1994.

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