Editing History of South Africa (section)

====Free State Republic====
{{Main|Orange Free State}}
[[File:Flag of the Orange Free State.svg|thumb|200px|[[Flag of the Orange Free State|Flag of the Republic of the Orange Free State]]]]The independent Boer republic of [[Orange Free State]] evolved from colonial Britain's [[Orange River Sovereignty]], enforced by the presence of British troops, which lasted from 1848 to 1854 in the territory between the Orange and Vaal rivers, named Transorange. Britain, due to the military burden imposed on it by the [[Crimean War]] in Europe, then withdrew its troops from the territory in 1854, when the territory along with other areas in the region was claimed by the Boers as an independent Boer republic, which they named the Orange Free State. In March 1858, after land disputes, cattle rustling and a series of raids and counter-raids, the Orange Free State declared war on the [[Basotho]] kingdom, which it failed to defeat. A succession of wars were conducted between the Boers and the Basotho for the next 10 years.<ref>Cameron, T. (ed) ''An Illustrated History of South Africa''. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 1986, pp. 137, 138, 143, 147–9, 169. {{ISBN|0715390511}}</ref> The name Orange Free State was again changed to the [[Orange River Colony]], created by Britain after the latter occupied it in 1900 and then annexed it in 1902 during the [[Second Boer War]]. The colony, with an estimated population of less than 400,000 in 1904<ref>Openlibrary.org,[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030396067#page/n235/mode/2up Census of the British empire], 1906, p. 169. Retrieved 3 May 2015.</ref> ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Union of South Africa as the [[Orange Free State Province]].