Transkei was a region on the southeastern coast of the Republic of South Africa. Until 1994, it was one of the 10 homelands established by the white South African government for the country’s Black African people. Transkei was the homeland of the Xhosa people.
Transkei became part of South Africa in 1910. In 1959, the South African government established a policy of granting independence to the homelands. Transkei was granted limited self-government in 1963. In 1976, Transkei became the first homeland to be declared an independent nation by the government. In 1994, a new constitution abolished homelands in South Africa, and Transkei became part of Eastern Cape province.
See also Apartheid.
