Editing South African Republic (section)

===Establishment===
The Boer republics emerged when the British had annexed the Cape Colony from the Dutch in 1806, in order to prevent the sea routes to the East (India etc.) from falling to [[Napoleon]]. This area was inhabited by the [[Boers]], who, dissatisfied with British rule, decided to leave the colony and move into the hinterland of South Africa in what became the [[Great Trek]]. These Boers then settled these lands, becoming farmers.

The South African Republic came into existence on 17 January 1852,{{sfn|Eybers|1918|pp=357–359}} when the British signed the [[Sand River Convention]] treaty with about 40,000&nbsp;[[Boer people]], recognising their independence in the region to the north of the [[Vaal River]], which had previously been under British annexation as the [[Orange River Sovereignty|Orange Rivers Sovereignty]].

The first president of the ZAR was [[Marthinus Wessel Pretorius]], elected in 1857, son of Boer leader [[Andries Pretorius]], who commanded the Boers to victory at the [[Battle of Blood River]]. The capital was established at [[Potchefstroom]] and later moved to [[Pretoria]]. The parliament was called the {{lang|af|[[Volksraad of the South African Republic|Volksraad]]}} and had 24 members.