Portal:Bophuthatswana/Intro

Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana (Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity) that was declared (nominally) independent by the apartheid regime of South Africa in 1977. However, its independence, like the other Bantustans (Ciskei, Transkei and Venda) was not recognized by any country other than South Africa.

Bophuthatswana was the second Bantustan to be declared an independent state, after Transkei. Its territory constituted a scattered patchwork of enclaves spread across what was then Cape Province, Orange Free State and Transvaal. Its seat of government was Mmabatho, which is now a suburb of Mahikeng.

On 27 April 1994, it was reintegrated into South Africa with the coming into force of the country's interim constitution. Its territory was distributed between the new provinces of the Free State, Gauteng and North West Province.