State · 1910 – 1961

Union of South Africa

A state of 1910 – 1961 — 51 years in sub-Saharan Africa. It was replaced by South Africa and followed by History of South Africa. The atlas records 7 things within it — people 7. Its line of rulers holds 12 people, 10 with dated terms. Its own article says it was dissolved by enactment of the constitution of.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood: 51 years; 1910 – 1961
Rulers: 12; the Prime Minister of South Africa
Within it: 7; recorded rows
Symbols: 4; 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.

After it

South Africa · replaced by · 1961 – present
History of South Africa · followed by · 1948 – 1994

How it ended, as its article says

Dissolved by enactment of the constitution of, 1961. Read from the article's section “lead” by its grammar; the claim is only that the article says so.

The Union came to an end with the enactment of the constitution of 1961, by which it became a republic and left the Commonwealth of Nations.

One sentence of the English Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rulers

The line of Prime Minister of South Africa.

killed, executed or dead in battledied in officeleft alive by a regular roada second row: a reign that began before the last had ended — rival claimants, or a shared throne

Ruler	Reign	Length	How it ended · source	To the ruler before
Jan Smuts	1919 – 1924	5 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone
J. B. M. Hertzog	1924 – 1939	15 years	resigned or stood down, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
George V	1931 – 1936	5 years	died by suicideWikidata's manner of death
Edward VIII	1936 – 1936	under a year	left office aliveread off the dates alone	child
George VI	1936 – 1952	16 years	died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death	sibling
Jan Smuts	1939 – 1948	9 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone
D. F. Malan	1948 – 1954	6 years	resigned or stood down, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
Elizabeth II	1952 – 1961	9 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone
J. G. Strijdom	1954 – 1958	4 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Hendrik Verwoerd	1958 – 1966	8 years	killedWikidata's manner of death
John Vorster	1966 – 1978	12 years	resigned or stood down, the article saysread from the ruler's own article

12 rulers, 10 with terms dated as terms, covering 1919 – 1978. Median reign 8 years. 5 of 10 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 0.77, limit 0.6). A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

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, undatedCoat of arms of South Africa (1932–2000) · Public domain
flag, 1910 – 1912Red Ensign of South Africa (1910–1912) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fornax , Zscout370
flag, 1912 – 1928Red Ensign of South Africa (1912–1951) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fornax
flag, 1928 – 1994Flag of South Africa (1928–1994, dark colors) · 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.

1900 – 19991 row

Hendrik Verwoerd · ruler · 1901 – 1966

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 stood51 years
stood longer than 34% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
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.
How long a reign lasted, at the median8 years
had longer reigns, at the median, than 29% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.
Rulers on record12
has more rulers on record than 84% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

What led to it, and what came of it

The investigation's own picture: 4 causes the record names and 2 results, 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.

linkedcoincidence

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, 1900 – 1971, with everything that stood beside it.
On the map in 1936, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.

Wikidata Q193619 (CC0) · 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.