If Britain had given control of the Cape Colony back to the Netherlands after the Napoleonic Wars, and assuming that eventually the Netherlands gave it a dominion-like status, what do you think it would be called? I was thinking perhaps something like Kaapstaat (Cape State) or Kaapland (Cape Land/Country), but I'm interested in seeing what others think.
Name of a Dutch Cape Colony Dominion
- Thread starter Fernsong
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Ha, sounds kind of like a Dutch restaurant, but I like it.
It was, but seeing as that translates to just "Cape Colony", I wasn't sure if a semi-independent dominion would exactly like to be referred to as a colony.
I get you. Just Kaap works then I think, if they get more of South Africa like Transvaal and Oranje it could also become Zuid-Afrika eventually. Or if it remains jus the cape but eventually becomes independent it could be Kaap Vrijstaat.
Kaapland or Kaap Republiek is probably the best bet (though Zuid-Afrika is also a very strong possibility). But I also see it as incredibly unlikely that the British would hand back the Cape Colony - they need it to keep the routes to India clear.
Osman Aga
Banned
I may sound like an actual dick for mentioning it but the whole discussion about whether the British would return it is irrelevant as the question isn't about "would the British give back the Cape Colony and ifso what would be the name of it". If that was the question then we could discuss these things. It is about asking the name of the Cape if the British give it back.
I'm aware. The last bit was my own personal view. I still answered what would have worked well within the bounds of what OP asked.
That doesn't sound grammatical. De Kaaprepubliek (with an article) sounds slightly less off, but still weird for an independent or semi-independent country. For some reason.Republiek van de Kaap maybe. Also: if it remains a dominion, would it even be called a republic?
My bet would be just "De Kaap". Just as the various autonomous lands of the kingdom in OTL are just called Nederland, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint-Maarten. And Suriname was just Suriname as well.
I guess it might drop the article if it ever became independent, according to the weird logic that that made De Oekraïne lose its (on the insistance of the Ukrainian government). See also: de Soedan, de Libanon. (And: de Kongo, but I'm not sure if that was ever standard usage.) But Kaap sounds weirder - perhaps because it's still a recognisable Dutch word.
It likely isn't grammatical - I used Google translate and I've had countless issues with English->French. I wouldn't trust that. Republiek van de Kaap sounds right, I guess? If it's a dominion... Unie van de Kaap / Unie van Kaapland (Union of the Cape / Union of Capeland)? Koninkrijk van Zuid-Afrika (Kingdom of South Africa)?
But on the other hand the Cape Colony would be quite different from other colonies in the 19th century.
That is very true. It certainly would not be a Wingewest like indonesia was.
I can see william giving it a titel to differentiate it from the east indies and any other colony.
Kaapland is a good neutral name
Hertogdom van de kaap has orangist and absolutist implications
Republiek van de kaap has statist and republican implications.
Really depends on which faction is in power when the name gets changed
What about simply giving it kingdom status, the reason the British didn’t do seems mostly a precedence created from the creation of Canada and the political concern from it. Of course if the Dutch Republic survives a royal title wouldn’t happen.
Would the Dutch opt for a dominion status? Why not a status as a simple overseas province, or full integration?
Oranje Vrijstaat 
Dutch namss for colonies in the 17th century were New Amsterdam (New York), New Holland (Australia), New Zealand, New Belgica (Brazil) etc. Dutch Chile was Brouwerhaven, the Falklands were Staten Eiland.
Likely Kaapland or Kaapse Provinsie
Dutch namss for colonies in the 17th century were New Amsterdam (New York), New Holland (Australia), New Zealand, New Belgica (Brazil) etc. Dutch Chile was Brouwerhaven, the Falklands were Staten Eiland.
Likely Kaapland or Kaapse Provinsie
That is actualy a good question. If we use a POD at the end of the Naopleonic wars, like Vienna, it could simply become a third part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which OTL existed out of the Netherlands and Belgium (well the southern Netherlands). We could simply add the Cape colony to it. That said, because of the distance it would have some autonomy and probably develope into a Dominionlike status, even if it was not intended originaly.
That said, De Kaap or Kaapland are probably the most likely names of the area.