Botswana

The semiarid, subtropical country of Botswana is predominantly flat with desert and savanna terrain. Botswana lies immediately north of South Africa. It is bordered on the north and east by Zimbabwe, north and west by Namibia, and is slightly connected to Zambia on the northern border. Although Botswana is the name of the country, the term Batswana is used to denote all of its citizens. This also refers to the countries major ethnic group the "Tswana", which came into the area from South Africa during the Zulu wars of the early 1880's. Botswana's aboriginal inhabitants, known as the San, or bushmen, have made the Kalahari their home for about 30,000 years. When the Tswana arrived, it did not take long for them to supplant the San, and are now the great majority of the 1,576,470 people that live there.

In the late 19th century, the Batswana and the Boer settlers, who came from Transvaal, began to dispute, and so hostilities broke out among them. The Batswana wanted help from a more powerful source, so they turned to the British. After appeals to the British Government for assistance, the British Government granted protectorate status to the Batswana as "Bechuanaland" in 1885, although the Tswana chiefs maintained the local authority. An expansion of British central authority and the evolution of tribal government resulted in the 1920 establishment of two advisory councils representing Africans and Europeans. Later in 1934, proclamations of tribal rule and power were regularized. In 1964, proposals for democratic self-government in Botswana were accepted. Soon after, Botswana became the Independent Republic of Botswana on September 30, 1966. Since Botswana's independence, the country has had an impressive economic growth rate, averaging over 10% per year from 1976 through 1991. This is mainly due to the major diamond mining. The bulk of Botswana's agricultural industry is derived from raising and herding cattle. About 50% of the population still holds their indigenous beliefs sacred, but the other 50% have turned to Christianity. This however has not split them culturally. They still hold many of thier long-time values and customs.

Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not claim expertise on Botswana.

If you are native to Botswana, your feedback is much appreciated.

References:

http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bc.html U.S. Department of State and Office of Public Communication, Background NotesBotswana. Washington DC: Janice E. Kiser, 1997.

Peters, Pauline. Dividing the Commons. University of Virginia: Rector and Visitors,1994.

Author: Jeff Schlicher