Which region in South Africa was the first British colony?

Which region in South Africa was the first British colony? The answer is the Cape of Good Hope, more formally known as the Cape Colony. Britain first occupied the Dutch-controlled Cape in 1795, largely to prevent France from gaining access to the vital sea route to India.

The Cape’s colonial history began before British rule. The Dutch East India Company established a settlement there in 1652 as a refreshment station for ships travelling between Europe and Asia. Britain returned the territory to Dutch control under the Treaty of Amiens in 1803, but reoccupied it in 1806 after defeating the Batavian forces at the Battle of Blaauwberg.

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 formally confirmed British sovereignty. The colony later expanded inland and became self-governing in 1872. It remained a British colony until 1910, when it joined Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony to form the Union of South Africa. The Cape Colony is therefore distinct from the later Boer republics and from Natal, which became a British colony afterward.