Botswana is an independent nation in Southern Africa. With the capital city of Gaborone, Botswana 2020 population is estimated at 2,351,638 according to countryaah. Indigenous people have lived in the area that makes up today’s Botswana for tens of thousands of years. From the 16th century, they were forced off by Tswana people who later formed the eight chiefdom. Since tswana asked for British protection against South African farmers, in 1885 the area became the British protectorate of Bechuanaland. The chiefs largely retained power. During the 1950s, nationalism grew and preparations were made for liberation, with the support of the British. In 1966, Botswana became an independent nation.
The first known people in what is today Botswana were the hunter people san and cattle khoikhoi who lived there for thousands of years before the beginning of our era. During the 16th and 16th centuries, they were forced into the desert by cattle-rearing Tswana people who settled in the Southeast and in present-day Western Transvaal in South Africa. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Tswana dynasties from the Transvaal formed eight chiefdom in present-day Botswana.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Comprehensive guide to and popular abbreviations of Botswana, covering history, economy, and social conditions.
In the early 19th century, European missionaries, traders and farmers (Dutch settlers from South Africa) also began to arrive. After the discovery of gold in the Transvaal in 1867, interest in the area increased, while the farmers’ demand for agricultural land grew. The Tswana chiefs repeatedly asked Britain for protection, and in 1885 a British protectorate, Bechuanaland, was established in the area that today constitutes Botswana. For Botswana political system, please check cancermatters.
The British planned to unite Bechuanaland with South Africa but this was never implemented. They governed the protectorate through local councils where chiefs also sat. The British did not devote much interest to the protectorate and the chiefs therefore maintained a great influence over how the area was governed. In a declaration in 1934, the tribal-based rule and the power of the rulers were formally regulated.
Political nationalist movements were formed in Bechuanaland in the early 1950s. The British also began to make certain plans for the independence of the protectorate. In 1960, the Bechuanaland People’s Party (BPP) was founded and in 1962 the Bechuanaland Democratic Party, which later became the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).
In 1961 elections were held for a legislative council, where the white minority and the black majority got ten representatives. In 1965, Bechuanaland became self-governing after an election won by the BDP. The administration was moved from Mafikeng in South Africa to a newly built capital, Gaborone, on the Botswana side of the border. On September 30, 1966, the Protectorate gained its independence as the Republic of Botswana.
2012
November
Opposition parties are part of the Valallians
The largest opposition parties BMD and BNF form an alliance with the small Botswana People’s Party (BPP) which has no parliamentary mandate. The Alliance calls itself the Collection for Democratic Change (UDC) (see also Political system).
October
Historical judgment on female inheritance rights
A lengthy dispute over female inheritance law is decided when a court rejects the Tsawna custom to allow only property to be inherited by men within the family. The Court declares that this custom is contrary to the constitution of the country. The case has been brought to court by four elderly sisters who saw their home turn into a male cousin’s property when their brother died. Just a year later, in September 2013, the verdict was upheld by the Botswana Supreme Court.
July
The EU takes back bans
The EU abolishes the import ban on beef (see February 2011). The ban is estimated to have cost the state operator BMC and farmers around $ 57 million in lost revenue.
