Identification.
Formerly Bechuanaland Protectorate under the British, Botswana became independent
in 1966. Bot swana means "place of Tswana" in the dominant national
language, and the citizenry are called Bat swana, or Tswana people. The term
Batswana, however, bears a double meaning. In government rhetoric, it refers to
all citizens of Botswana. But the word also refers to ethnically
"Tswana" people, as distinct from the other ethnic groups present in
the country. This double meaning allows for both the expression of strong civic
national sentiments and debate about the dominance of Tswana people and
ideology over the broader population.
Location and
Geography.
Botswana is a landlocked and arid country. Bordering on South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Zambia, it is 224,607 square miles (581,730
square kilometers) in area, about the same size as France. Two-thirds of the
country is comprised of the Kalahari Desert, which is covered with grasses and
scrub but has scarce surface water. Mean annual rainfall ranges from under 10
inches (250 millimeters) per annum in the southwest to over 25 inches (635
millimeters) in the northeast. The entire country is prone to extended
droughts, causing significant hardship to agriculturalists, pastoralists, and
hunter-gatherers. The Okavango Delta, in the north, is a large inland delta,
and people there fish and farm on its flooded banks; tourists are drawn to the
large numbers of wildlife that congregate in the area. The eastern third of the
country, with more rainfall and fertile soils, is home to most of the
population. Prior to independence, the British administered the Protectorate
from Mafiking in South Africa. The capital city today, Gaborone, was built on a
village site in the southeastern corner of the country at independence, near
the borders of several of the Tswana polities that dominated the country.
Linguistic
Affiliation. Bantu, Khoisan, and Indo-European languages are spoken in
Botswana. English is the official language and Setswana the national language.
This means that the language of government and higher education is primarily
English, but that Setswana is the dominant language spoken in the country. Ninety
percent of the population is said to speak Setswana. The term Setswana refers
both to Tswana language, and to Tswana practices/culture, and there has been
increasing resistance.
Symbolism.
"Pula," the Setswana word for rain, is featured on the coat of arms,
and is called out frequently at public gatherings as a salute and cry of
approbation. It is also the term for the national currency. The national anthem
is "Lefatshe la Rona," ("Our Country"), and its title
captures the strong attachment most Batswana feel to the land and its
resources, as well as some antiforeign sentiments. Cattle were tremendously
important not just to a material economy but also to the symbolic economy of
status, family, and social relations in the past, and cattle remain powerfully
evocative to most Batswana today.
