Side by side
United Kingdom and South Africa compared
Two sourced records set beside each other — the figures each nation publishes, and the events each chronicle records of the other. Compared, never graded.
12 July 927 — The monarchs of Britain recognise Æthelstan as king of the English
31 May 1910 — Four colonies join to create the Union of South Africa
- Shared indicators
- 42
- Domains
- 9
- Crossed events
- 6
- Data through
- 2026-08-10
The figures, side by side
Each figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two dossiers. Every value shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation. A “—” is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Metric names link to the world ranking; values open the figure on its own dossier.
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Entangled histories
6 events in which either nation’s sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle; nothing here was written for this page.
- 1806
Britain seizes the Cape
British forces occupied the Cape Colony during the Napoleonic Wars, beginning lasting British rule confirmed by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Colonisation · from the South Africa chronicle · British rule, the Mfecane, the Zulu kingdom and the Boer republics · South Africa (country, history and government), History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa
- 1 December 1834
Abolition of slavery at the Cape
Slavery was abolished across the British Empire, freeing enslaved people at the Cape and deepening Boer discontent that helped spark the Great Trek.
Politics & Power · from the South Africa chronicle · British rule, the Mfecane, the Zulu kingdom and the Boer republics · History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa, South Africa (country, history and government)
- from 1836
The Great Trek
Thousands of Voortrekkers left the Cape Colony for the interior, seeking independence from British rule and founding new Boer communities on lands occupied by African peoples.
Peoples & Migration · from the South Africa chronicle · British rule, the Mfecane, the Zulu kingdom and the Boer republics · Origins of the Battle of Blood River 1838, South Africa (country, history and government)
- 1899–1902
The South African War
War between Britain and the Boer republics featured guerrilla campaigns and British concentration camps in which tens of thousands of Boer and Black civilians died.
War & Rupture · from the South Africa chronicle · Diamonds, gold, the South African War and Union · The South African War 1899–1902, South African War, Treaty of Vereeniging
- 31 May 1902
Treaty of Vereeniging
The peace signed at Pretoria ended the South African War, bringing the Transvaal and Orange Free State under British sovereignty with promises of eventual self-government.
Politics & Power · from the South Africa chronicle · Diamonds, gold, the South African War and Union · Treaty of Vereeniging, South African War
- 31 May 1910
Union of South Africa
The four British colonies were united into the self-governing Union of South Africa under the South Africa Act, a white-controlled state that excluded the Black majority from political power.
Formation · from the South Africa chronicle · Diamonds, gold, the South African War and Union · The Union of South Africa 1910, South Africa Act, South Africa (country, history and government)