African | Tribal | Venda people

Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. It was founded as a homeland for the Venda or vha-Venda ethnic group, speakers of the Venda language. It was declared self-governing on February 1, 1973. On September 13, 1979, it was declared independent by the South African government and its residents lost their South African citizenship. In common with other Bantustans, its independence was not recognized by the international community. It was initially a series of non-contiguous territories in the Transvaal, with one main part and one main exclave. Its capital, formerly at Sibasa, was moved to Thohoyandou (which included the old Sibasa administrative district) when Venda was declared independent in 1979. Prior to independence it was expanded to form one contiguous territory, with a total land area of 6,807 km.