The Transvaal (lit. "beyond the Vaal [pale river]") is the name of an area of northern South Africa. At the start, it made up a great part of the independent Boer South African Republic. Before the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 it became the Transvaal Colony. It is one of the original provinces of the Union of South Africa from 1910 until 1994 with capital in Pretoria. The province no longer exists, and its territory now forms the provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga and part of the North West Province. Even though it no longer exists as an administrative unit, the Transvaal is still a commonly used geographical term and retains its historical meaning.