The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was formed on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the independent 1839 Boer Republic of Natalia. In the 1860s many workers from British India came to live in Natal. On 31 May 1910, it unified with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa. It now forms the larger province of KwaZulu-Natal of the Republic of South Africa.