After the first South African democratic election, the country was demarcated into nine provinces. Some of these provinces were given geographical names, like Northern Transvaal and Eastern Transvaal. In 1995, the names of three of these provinces, PWV, Orange Free State and Northern Transvaal, were changed.

The PWV, which consisted of Pretoria, Witwatersrand and the Vaal region was, renamed Gauteng Sotho name meaning “a place of Gold”. Orange Free State and Northern Transvaal were changed to Free State and Northern Province respectively.

Northern Province has since changed its name again to Limpopo Province. This was done after it was found that the province shares the name with other provinces in other African countries, which was causing confusion for international investors.

Source: South African History Online

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