Mpumalanga forms part of the original Eastern Transvaal and is a province of South Africa. The name means "east", or literally "the place where the sun rises".

Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area. It shares borders with the South African provinces of Limpopo to the north,Gauteng to the west, the Free State to the southwest, and KwaZulu- Natal to the south. The capital is Nelspruit. Before 1994, Mpumalanga was part of Transvaal.