Editing Transkei (section)

==Geography and demographics==
[[File:Topographic map of the Transkei.svg|thumb|300px|Topographic map of the Transkei]]
[[File:Map of Transkei with boundary changes from independence to dissolution.svg|thumb|300px|Map of the Transkei showing districts and border changes]]
{{Main|Eastern Cape|Demographics of South Africa}}
The Transkei consisted of three disconnected sections with a total area covering {{Convert|45000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="tr_atlas">{{Citation |year=1982 |title=Atlas of Transkei —a cartographical project in a developing country |journal=GeoJournal |volume=6 |issue=6 |bibcode=1982GeoJo...6..573M |last1=Mauder |first1=K. |page=573 |doi=10.1007/BF00425327 }}</ref> The large main section was bordered by the Umtamvuna River in the north and the [[Great Kei River]] in the south. The [[Indian Ocean]] and the [[Drakensberg]] mountain range, including parts of the landlocked kingdom of [[Lesotho]], served as the eastern and western frontiers. A further two small sections occurred as landlocked isolates within South Africa. One of these was in the north-west, along the [[Orange River]] adjoining south-western Lesotho, and the other in the [[Umzimkhulu|uMzimkhulu]] area to the east, each reflecting colonially designated tribal areas where Xhosa speaking peoples predominated. A large portion of the area was mountainous and not suitable for agriculture.<ref name="sahist">{{Citation |work=South African History Online |title=Transkei |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/places/villages/easternCape/transkei.htm |access-date=2009-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209085427/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/places/villages/easternCape/transkei.htm |archive-date=9 February 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The territorial dispute with [[South Africa]] that led to the break in relations was a patch of territory called East Griqualand (which was situated between the main and eastern segments of Transkei with its northern limit at the [[Lesotho]] border). South Africa put [[Griqualand East|East Griqualand]] under the jurisdiction of the Cape Province instead of Transkei, thus making it an [[exclave]] of the [[Cape Province]].<ref>{{Citation |title=South Africa Almanac|date=1986}}</ref>

The majority of the population was [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]-speaking, and according to the ''Constitution of the Republic of Transkei,'' Xhosa was the sole official language, but laws had to be translated into [[Sotho language|Sotho]] and English in order for them to come into effect, and [[Afrikaans]] was permissible in court proceedings and for other administrative purposes.<ref>{{Citation|title=Constitution of the Republic of Transkei, Chapter 3, 16|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Transkei_Constitution.pdf|access-date=11 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721224511/http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Transkei_Constitution.pdf|archive-date=21 July 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, many thousands of northern Transkei residents spoke a small hybrid [[Nguni languages|Nguni]]–[[Sesotho language|Sotho]] language, called [[Phuthi language|Phuthi]].{{efn|Neither South Africa nor Lesotho release official statistics on the number of speakers. Its status as a language in its own right is disputed. ''Ethnologue'' lists Phuti as a dialect of Sotho, and research on the language is scarce.}}

Conflicting data exist about the number of inhabitants. According to the ''South African Encyclopaedia,'' the total population of the Transkei increased from 2,487,000 to 3,005,000 between 1960 and 1970.<ref>{{Citation |year=1972 |title=South African Encyclopaedia |publisher=Naspers |location=Johannesburg }}</ref> An estimate of 1982 puts the number at about 2.3 million, with approximately 400,000 citizens residing permanently outside the territory's borders. Fewer than 10,000 individuals were of European descent, and the urbanisation-rate for the entire population was around 5%.<ref name="tr_atlas"/>