Botswana History : Chronology

Prepare your travel to Botswana

I. Timeline of important events in botswana history

There are about 30 000 years: The San arriving in the Kalahari.

I / second century: Arrival of Bantu farmers and herders.

Fourteenth century: Kgalagadi first language Tswana tribe arrived in Botswana, the Transvaal reached.

Eighteenth century: Fragmentation peaceful Bantu tribes became widespread. This fragmentation is the cause of major modern Tswana groups.

Nineteenth century: The Herero people, mainly nomadic pastor, fled the German settlement in Namibia and attaches to the northwest of Botswana. The Tswana, aware of the drawbacks of dispersal, are grouped into a highly structured society.

1885: After the first Boer War, Great Britain based in Botswana the British Crown Colony of Bechuanaland, attached to the Cape Colony. The establishment of the protectorate is to stop the Boer expansionism north and west and to bar the way to other European powers, notably Germany. Tribal leaders have their rituals, traditions and lifestyles inevitably upset (introduction of Western technology, economics, money, a tax system ...) they are given a "reserve" where they have tribal authority over indigenous peoples.

1966: independence of Botswana.

1998: Festus Mogae was elected president.

2000: Botswana is the country most infected by AIDS.

2001: The influx of political refugees Namibians and Angolans in the north threatens the stability of the region. 2002: An agreement was signed between Botswana and Namibia for the repatriation of Namibian refugees.

2004: Festus Mogae was reelected to the presidency.

2006: Following the decision of a court in Botswana, the Bushmen can return to live legally on land which they were expelled.

Source : 2008