Administrative region, South Africa.
It borders the Indian Ocean and Lesotho. It was created by South Africa in 1959 as the first Bantu homeland, a nonindependent black state designated (together with Ciskei ) for the Xhosa-speaking peoples (see Xhosa ). It was made a nominally independent republic in 1976, and all black Africans with language ties to Transkei (whether or not they lived there) lost their South African citizenship and became citizens of the new country. Existing only as an element of the apartheid system, it never received international recognition. The region was reincorporated into South Africa in 1994 as part of Eastern Cape and KwaZulu/Natal provinces.