Journey through the people, cities and ideas that shaped Botswana, from prehistoric communities to the republic of today.
Explore San communities, Tswana chiefdoms, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, independence and modern Botswana.
Explore 7 historical periods, rulers and heads of government, and 48 chapters of territorial change.
Kings and chiefs, colonial governors, heads of state, prime ministers and political figures.
A Journey Through the Ages
Botswana: explore San communities, Tswana chiefdoms, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, independence and modern Botswana. Discover 293 events across 7 historical periods.
100,000 BCE – 1799
San foragers, Khoe herders and Kalanga and Toutswe farmers settled the Kalahari margins, leaving rock art at Tsodilo and cattle settlements in the east. By the 18th century, Kwena, Ngwaketse and Ngwato chiefdoms had formed the first Tswana states.
1800 – 1884
Difaqane raids, Ndebele and Boer pressure and the arrival of missionaries from 1816 reshaped Tswana life, as chiefs such as Sechele I and Khama III adopted Christianity. Livingstone, ivory traders and the Tati gold rush opened the interior to Europeans.
1885 – 1945
Britain declared the Protectorate in 1885, annexed British Bechuanaland to the Cape in 1895, and kept the north under the High Commissioner after the Three Chiefs resisted the Company. Rinderpest, drought and the 1934 proclamations marked a poor colony of about 150,000 people.
1946 – 1965
Seretse Khama's 1948 marriage brought exile from 1950 to 1956 and British-South African tensions, before the Legislative Council, the Botswana Democratic Party and the 1965 election. Gaborone was built as the new capital, and the 1964 census counted 549,510.
1966 – 1980
Botswana became independent on 30 September 1966 under Seretse Khama. Diamonds at Orapa and later mines, copper-nickel at Selebi-Phikwe and a new national currency drove rapid growth, while the Rhodesian war pushed refugees across the north-eastern border and brought pressure.
1981 – 2007
Quett Masire and Festus Mogae governed a diamond-led economy through the Jwaneng mine, the 1985 South African raid on Gaborone and the Kasikili/Sedudu ruling of 1999. HIV prevalence reached 20.7% of adults, and the antiretroviral programme began in 2002.
2008 – present
Ian Khama, Mokgweetsi Masisi and then Duma Boko led a country of 581,730 km2 through the 2014 Okavango inscription, the Kazungula Bridge and the diamond-demand slump. The UDC won the 2024 election, ending 58 years of BDP rule.
From the San of the Tsodilo Hills and the Toutswe cattle chiefdoms to the Tswana states, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, independence in 1966 and the diamond era, 100,000 BCE – Today
From the Stone Age peoples of the Kalahari and the rock art of the Tsodilo Hills to the Khoe herders, the Kalanga and Toutswe farmers, the Kwena, Ngwato, Ngwaketse, Kgatla and Tawana chiefdoms, the Mfecane, the Boers and the missionaries, the British declarations of 1885, British Bechuanaland and the Protectorate, the Three Chiefs, the Seretse Khama crisis, independence on 30 September 1966, the Orapa and Jwaneng diamond mines and the 2024 change of government. See how the lands of the Batswana and their neighbours changed.
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Explore San communities, Tswana chiefdoms, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, independence and modern Botswana.
San foragers, Khoe herders and Kalanga and Toutswe farmers settled the Kalahari margins, leaving rock art at Tsodilo and cattle settlements in the east. By the 18th century, Kwena, Ngwaketse and Ngwato chiefdoms had formed the first Tswana states.
Difaqane raids, Ndebele and Boer pressure and the arrival of missionaries from 1816 reshaped Tswana life, as chiefs such as Sechele I and Khama III adopted Christianity. Livingstone, ivory traders and the Tati gold rush opened the interior to Europeans.
Britain declared the Protectorate in 1885, annexed British Bechuanaland to the Cape in 1895, and kept the north under the High Commissioner after the Three Chiefs resisted the Company. Rinderpest, drought and the 1934 proclamations marked a poor colony of about 150,000 people.
Seretse Khama's 1948 marriage brought exile from 1950 to 1956 and British-South African tensions, before the Legislative Council, the Botswana Democratic Party and the 1965 election. Gaborone was built as the new capital, and the 1964 census counted 549,510.
Botswana became independent on 30 September 1966 under Seretse Khama. Diamonds at Orapa and later mines, copper-nickel at Selebi-Phikwe and a new national currency drove rapid growth, while the Rhodesian war pushed refugees across the north-eastern border and brought pressure.
Quett Masire and Festus Mogae governed a diamond-led economy through the Jwaneng mine, the 1985 South African raid on Gaborone and the Kasikili/Sedudu ruling of 1999. HIV prevalence reached 20.7% of adults, and the antiretroviral programme began in 2002.
Ian Khama, Mokgweetsi Masisi and then Duma Boko led a country of 581,730 km2 through the 2014 Okavango inscription, the Kazungula Bridge and the diamond-demand slump. The UDC won the 2024 election, ending 58 years of BDP rule.
Event, ruler, map and fact entries retain the references and caveats supplied with the dataset. Coverage extends through October 2026.
Early political zones and colonial extents are approximate. Modern outlines used as orientation or proxies are identified in the map. Population figures mix historical estimates and a UN series; the supplied map explains differences from census counts.
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Explore 64 facts from the supplied Botswana research. References and qualifications accompany each fact.
Did you know that Wikipedia says rock art in Botswana begins about 30,000 years ago, and UNESCO says Tsodilo alone holds over 4,500 paintings in about 10 square kilometres of the Kalahari, one of the highest concentrations of rock art in the world.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Kalanga were the first Bantu people to settle in present-day Botswana, around 200 CE, and that the ancestors of the Tswana followed roughly two centuries later.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Zhizo moved west to settle Toutswe around 1000, that Mapungubwe traded locally with Toutswe in Botswana, and that Mapungubwe's gold likely came from the Tati goldfields in modern Botswana.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that a gold-foil-covered wooden rhinoceros was found in the original gold burial at Mapungubwe, a kingdom near today's borders with Botswana, which Wikipedia says peaked at about 5,000 people by 1250 and was abandoned around 1300.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Kwena leader Sechele I met David Livingstone in 1847 and was baptised in 1848 after divorcing four of his five wives, and that he reportedly learned the alphabet in two days.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Tswana already had a concept of private property by the mid-19th century, and that both married men and married women could hold land rights.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says that in 1852 Boers from the Transvaal destroyed Livingstone's Kolobeng mission and attacked the Kwena, but a combined Batswana force defeated them, which ended Boer westward expansion.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Setswana's first complete Bible translation was published by Robert Moffat in 1857, after he had earlier issued a spelling book and a catechism in 1826.
Did you know that Wikipedia says gold found near the Tati River sparked southern Africa's first gold rush in the late 1860s, which the Francistown article credits to Karl Mauch's 1867 publicity and gold found in 1869.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Colonel Charles Warren announced the Bechuanaland Protectorate on 31 March 1885, and that Mafeking, outside the territory, served as its capital until Gaborone took over in 1965.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the protectorate's boundary was extended on 30 June 1890 to include Ngamiland, and that Germany recognised this the next day in the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty.
Did you know that Wikipedia says that in 1895 Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I travelled to Britain, where they blocked a deal that would have absorbed their territory into the British South Africa Company.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the present town of Francistown was founded in 1897 near the Monarch mine and named after Daniel Francis, an English prospector from Liverpool.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Ruth Williams met Seretse Khama at a London Missionary Society dance at Nutford House in June 1947, and that the two shared a love of jazz.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams married at Kensington Register Office on 29 September 1948 because no church would marry them.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Ruth Williams Khama arrived in Bechuanaland in 1949 during unusually good rains, and that Bamangwato women greeted her with the words "You are the mother of us all", according to the page.
Did you know that Wikipedia says that in 1951 the House of Commons voted 308 to 286 to keep Seretse and Ruth Khama in exile, and that they lived in Croydon until returning home in 1956 as private citizens.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Bechuanaland Protectorate Federal Party, formed in 1959, was the territory's first political party, and that the tribes formed a legislative council two years later.
Did you know that the Central Kalahari Game Reserve was established in 1961 and covers about 52,800 square kilometres, which Wikipedia says is larger than the Netherlands and close to 10 percent of Botswana.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Moremi Game Reserve was proclaimed in 1963 and named after Chief Moremi III of the Batawana, whose widow Elizabeth Pulane Moremi was ruling the area and took steps to conserve wildlife.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the modern town of Gaborone was founded in 1964, was planned for about 20,000 people, and had grown to 138,000 by 1992, making it once one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
Did you know that Bessie Head left South Africa in 1964, sought asylum in the Bechuanaland Protectorate and settled in Serowe, where Wikipedia says she wrote When Rain Clouds Gather (1968), Maru (1971) and A Question of Power (1973).
Did you know that Wikipedia says Botswana's first general election was held on 1 March 1965, and that Seretse Khama of the Botswana Democratic Party took office as head of government two days later on 3 March.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Bechuanaland became the independent Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966, and that the country's name translates as "Land of the Tswana".
Did you know that Wikipedia says Elizabeth II appointed Seretse Khama a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire about ten days before independence, and that he served as Botswana's first president until 13 July 1980.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says De Beers geologists led by Dr Gavin Lamont discovered Orapa on 1 March 1967, a year after independence, and that its pit covers about 118 hectares, making it the world's largest diamond mine by area.
Did you know that the Chobe National Park, Botswana's first national park, covers about 11,700 square kilometres and, according to Wikipedia, holds about 50,000 elephants, which the main Botswana article calls the world's largest concentration of African elephants.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Jwaneng deposit was identified in February 1973, and that the mine, which opened in 1982, produced 13.3 million carats in 2023 and is called the richest diamond mine in the world.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the pula replaced the South African rand at par on 23 August 1976, a date known as Pula Day, and that the rand stopped being legal tender in Botswana 100 days later.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Quett Masire became acting president on 13 July 1980, was elected on 18 July, and served until 31 March 1998, the longest tenure of any Botswana president.
Did you know that Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, which Wikipedia says opened in 1984 north of Gaborone, has a 4,000 metre runway and handled 407,813 passengers in 2024, replacing the earlier Gaborones Airport.
Did you know that the first four white rhinos arrived at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary in 1992, and Wikipedia says a black rhino was reintroduced in 2002 on the roughly 8,585 hectare community-based reserve near Serowe.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was first published in 1998 and set in Gaborone, where Precious Ramotswe is Botswana's first female private investigator.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park was formally launched in 2000 as Southern Africa's first peace park, covering about 38,000 square kilometres, with roughly three-quarters of it in Botswana.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Tsodilo was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001, and UNESCO says its archaeological record spans at least 100,000 years and that it has been called the "Louvre of the Desert".
Did you know that Wikipedia says Festus Mogae received the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership in 2008, and that his government ran a free antiretroviral therapy campaign against HIV/AIDS.
Did you know that Botswana qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations by beating Tunisia home and away, and Wikipedia says the Zebras, called Dipitse in Tswana, reached their best FIFA ranking of 53rd in December 2010.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Nijel Amos won 800 m silver at London 2012 in 1:41.73, which Wikipedia says was a world junior record and Botswana's first-ever Olympic medal.
Did you know that the Okavango Delta was inscribed in 2014 as the 1,000th site on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which Wikipedia says makes Botswana's inland delta a milestone entry.
Did you know that the Lesedi La Rona, found at the Karowe Mine on 16 November 2015, weighed 1,111 carats when recovered, and Wikipedia says it is the fifth-largest diamond ever found and third-largest of gem quality.
Did you know that the 2016 film A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante, starred David Oyelowo as Seretse Khama and Rosamund Pike as Ruth Williams, according to Wikipedia.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Lesedi La Rona failed to sell at Sotheby's in June 2016, when the top bid was $61 million, and was sold in September 2017 to Graff for $53 million, then cut in 2019.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that the Kazungula Bridge linking Botswana and Zambia over the Zambezi opened on 10 May 2021, and Wikipedia says it is 923 metres long, cost US$259.3 million and replaced the Kazungula Ferry.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the first confirmed Omicron specimens were collected in Botswana on 9 November 2021, and that South Africa reported the variant to the WHO on 24 November, two days before it was named a variant of concern.
Did you know that Botswana's 2022 census counted 2,359,609 people, and Wikipedia says that gives about 4.1 people per square kilometre, with Gaborone at 246,325 and Francistown, the second-largest city, at 103,417.
Did you know that Letsile Tebogo won the 100 m at the 2022 World U20 Championships in 9.91 seconds, which Wikipedia lists as a world U20 record, and took 200 m silver at the same meeting.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Letsile Tebogo won the men's 200 m at the Paris Olympics on 8 August 2024 in 19.46 seconds, which Wikipedia lists as an African record and Botswana's first-ever Olympic gold medal.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Botswana has won four Olympic medals, one gold, two silver and one bronze, with the 2024 men's 4 x 400 m relay team of Kebinatshipi, Ndori, Pesela and Tebogo taking silver in Paris.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that in the 30 October 2024 election, Wikipedia says the Umbrella for Democratic Change won 36 of 61 elected seats, ending the BDP's time in government since independence, and Duma Boko was sworn in as president on 1 November.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Botswana covers about 581,730 square kilometres, roughly the size of France, and that the Kalahari Desert covers up to about 70 percent of its land surface.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the pula is the national currency and also means "rain", which is the national motto, while its subunit, the thebe, means "shield".
Did you know that Wikipedia says a kgotla is a village meeting, council and traditional court where decisions are reached by consensus, everyone may speak fully and no one may interrupt another speaker.
Did you know that Wikipedia's Tswana people article records the proverb "Mmualebe o a bo a bua la gagwe", meaning even the one who speaks badly must be allowed to speak, as a summary of how a kgotla works.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Tswana has three click consonants, used mostly in interjections by older speakers, and that the verb go bua can mean either "to speak" or "to skin an animal" depending on tone.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says cattle were central to Tswana wealth and political organisation, and that bridewealth, called bogadi, is typically paid in cattle, which legitimised marriages and established alliances.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Makgadikgadi Pans are what remains of Lake Makgadikgadi, once larger than Switzerland, and that together the pans cover about 16,000 square kilometres of the Kalahari Basin.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Soa Pan hosts one of only two greater flamingo breeding populations in southern Africa, the other being in Etosha, Namibia, and that Kubu Island in Sua Pan has baobab trees.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Okavango River splits into channels near Mohembo, and that 96 to 98 percent of the water entering the delta is lost to evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge and evaporation.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the San see Tsodilo's hills as a resting place for spirits of the dead and as the birthplace of all life, and a natural spring near Female Hill is used for cleansing and protection.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Deception Valley, one of four fossilised rivers meandering through the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, began forming around 16,000 years ago.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Kalahari elephants of Chobe form the largest herds of any known elephant population, with brittle ivory and short tusks that may result from calcium deficiency in the soil.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the Orapa kimberlite sits beneath preserved Late Cretaceous lake sediments that form an important site for fossil insects.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says the name Orapa is said to mean "resting place for lions", and that the mine inspired a board game, Orapa Mine, which is popular in Ivory Coast.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.
Did you know that Wikipedia says Gaborone is nicknamed GC from Government Camp, the colonial headquarters, and that the Gaborone Dam, Botswana's second-largest, bans swimming because of crocodiles and bilharzia.
Research confidence: medium; the supplied research identifies partial support.