Free Orange State

The Orange Free State was an independent Boer sovereign republic located in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Founded on February 17, 1854, it was a landlocked entity situated between the Orange and Vaal rivers. Its borders were established by the United Kingdom in 1848 when the region was declared the Orange River Sovereignty. The republic officially gained independence on February 23, 1854, with the signing of the Orange River Convention. It ceased to exist as an independent state on May 31, 1902, after its defeat and surrender to the British Empire at the end of the Second Boer War, subsequently becoming the Orange River Colony.