Kaapkolonie
Kaapkolonie, known in English as the Cape Colony, was a colonial polity in the southwestern part of present-day South Africa. It originated as a refreshment station established by the Dutch East India Company at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 to supply ships en route to the East Indies. Over time it expanded into a settler colony with its own administrative structures and a growing population.
The colony was initially governed by the Dutch East India Company and, after the company’s decline, became
The economy centered on farming, provisioning of ships, and increasingly on mining-driven activities such as the
In 1872 the Cape Colony achieved responsible government with a locally elected parliament. It remained under