The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on September 30, 1966. It is bordered by ► South Africa to the south and southeast, ► Namibia to the west, ► Zambia to the north, and ► Zimbabwe to the northeast. The economy, closely tied to South Africa's, is dominated by mining (especially diamonds), cattle, and tourism. The country is named after its largest ethnic group, the Tswana.
Lefatshe la Botswana ke lefatshe le le dikaganyeditsweng ke a mangwe, ka jalo ga le a bapa le lewatle mo borwa jwa Aferika. Pele ga le tsaya boipuso ka kgwedi ya Phalane e tlhola masome a mararo ka ngwaga wa sekete, makgolo a roba bongwe, masome a le marataro le metso e le marataro mo go mmamosadinyana le ne le bidiwa Bechuanaland. Lefatshe la Botswana le dikaganyeditswe ke la Aferika Borwa kwa borwa, Namibia kwa bophirima, Zambia kwa bokone le Zimbabwe kwa bokone-botlhaba. Lefatshe le le bidiwa Botswana, le reelelwa ka banni ba lone eleng Batswana.
Short name
Botswana
Official name
Republic of Botswana
Status
Independent country since 1966
Location
Southern Africa
Capital
Gaborone
Population
2,374,698 inhabitants
Area
581,730 square kilometres (224,610 sq mi)
Major languages
English (official), SeTswana (national and official)
This section holds a short summary of the history of the area of present-day Botswana, illustrated with maps, including historical maps of former countries and empires that included present-day Botswana.
The Batswana, a term also used to denote all citizens of Botswana, refers to the country's major ethnic group, which came into the area from South Africa during the Zulu wars of the early 1880s. Prior to European contact, the Batswana live as herders and farmers under tribal rule. In the late 19th century, hostilities break out between the Batswana and Boer settlers from the Transvaal.
In order to maintain access to the north, which was threatened by the expansion of Transvaal Boers and (potentially) the new German colony of South West Africa, Britain declared a protectorate in 1885 over what is now the southern part of Botswana, extending it to the north in 1895. The protectorate remained under direct administration and is today's Botswana, while the southern territory, British Bechuanaland, which was a full Colony, subsequently became part of the Cape Colony. Proclamations in 1934 regularize tribal rule and powers. A European-African advisory council is formed in 1951 and the 1961 constitution establishes a consultative legislative council. The 1965 constitution leads to the first general elections. This maps shows Bechuanaland in the British colonial empire
This leads in 1966 into independence. Bechuanaland is named the Republic of Botswana.
Old maps
This section holds copies of original general maps more than 70 years old.
South Africa inclusive Bechuanaland in 1885
British Bechuanaland, May 1887 from the Scottish Geographical Magazine
Historical map of the Cape States, Bibliothek allgemeinen und praktischen Wissens für Militäranwärter Band I, 190
Satellite maps
Satellite map
Satellite map
Notes and references
General remarks:
The WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Atlas of the World is an organized and commented collection of geographical, political and historical maps available at Wikimedia Commons. The main page is therefore the portal to maps and cartography on Wikimedia. That page contains links to entries by country, continent and by topic as well as general notes and references.
Every entry has an introduction section in English. If other languages are native and/or official in an entity, introductions in other languages are added in separate sections. The text of the introduction(s) is based on the content of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. For sources of the introduction see therefore the Wikipedia entries linked to. The same goes for the texts in the history sections.
Historical maps are included in the continent, country and dependency entries.
The status of various entities is disputed. See the content for the entities concerned.
The maps of former countries that are more or less continued by a present-day country or had a territory included in only one or two countries are included in the atlas of the present-day country. For example the Ottoman Empire can be found in the Atlas of Turkey.
