The South African Republic (also called the Transvaal or Transvaal Republic) was an independent country in Southern Africa from 1852 to 1902. The country defeated the British in what is often called the First Boer War (1880–1881) and was forced to surrender to the British at the end of the Second Boer War on 31 May 1902. In 1910 the territory became the Transvaal Province of the Union of South Africa, which was eventually subdivided at the end of apartheid in 1994.