State · 1854 – 1902
Orange Free State
A state of 1854 – 1902 — 48 years in sub-Saharan Africa. It replaced Orange River Sovereignty. It was replaced by Orange River Colony. The atlas records 13 things within it — wars and battles 3 · people 10. Its line of rulers holds 8 people, 2 with dated terms. Its own article says it was conquered.
For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.
- Stood
- 48 years
- 1854 – 1902
- Rulers
- 8
- the State President of the Orange Free State
- Most ground
- 133,300 km²
- in 1871
- Within it
- 13
- recorded rows
- Symbols
- 2
- on record, with years
Where it sits in time
Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.
Before and after
The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.
Before it
- Orange River Sovereignty · replaces · 1848 – 1854
After it
- Orange River Colony · replaced by · 1902 – 1910
How it ended, as its article says
Conquered, 1900. Read from the article's section “lead” by its grammar; the claim is only that the article says so.
The Orange Free State was annexed as the Orange River Colony in 1900.
One sentence of the English Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Rulers
The line of State President of the Orange Free State.
| Ruler | Reign | Length | How it ended · source | To the ruler before |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacobus Johannes Venter | 1855 – 1855 | under a year | left office aliveread off the dates alone | |
| Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff | 1855 – 1859 | 4 years | left office aliveread off the dates alone | |
| Jacobus Johannes Venter | 1863 – 1864 | 1 year | left office aliveread off the dates alone |
8 rulers, 2 with terms dated as terms, covering 1855 – 1864. Only 9 years of the line are dated - too short for a median. 0 of 2 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. The violent-handover count is withheld: power changed hands so often that any rising falls beside one (exposure 1.00, limit 0.6). A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.
Ground held, by year
km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.
133,100 km² in 1859, 132,400 km² in 1899; at its largest 133,300 km² in 1874. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.
Flags and arms, in order
Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.

coat of arms, from 1856Coat of arms of the Orange Free State · Public domain 
flag, from 1856Flag of the Orange Free State · Public domain
What happened within it, by century
Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.
1800 – 189913 rows · 3 wars and battles
- J. R. R. Tolkien · writer · 1892 – 1973
- Marthinus Wessel Pretorius · ruler · 1819 – 1901
- Christiaan de Wet · politician · 1854 – 1922
- Francis William Reitz · ruler · 1844 – 1934
- Battle of Magersfontein · battle · 1899
- Martinus Theunis Steyn · ruler · 1857 – 1916
- Johannes Brand · ruler · 1823 – 1888
- Manie Maritz · commander · 1873 – 1940
and 5 more in the atlas.
Among all states
Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.
- How long it stood48 years
stood longer than 33% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
- The most ground it held133,300 km²
held more ground at its peak than 52% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
- Wars recorded per centurynone
had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
- Rulers on record8
has more rulers on record than 76% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.
What led to it, and what came of it
The investigation's own picture: 1 cause the record names and 1 result, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.
Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.
Open in the atlas
- On the timeline, 1844 – 1912, with everything that stood beside it.
- On the map in 1871, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
- Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.
Wikidata Q218023 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · one sentence of the English Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA 4.0 · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.