Botswana

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Botswana fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. Kololo and Ndebele raiders1823 to 1840

   During the Mfecane wars, the Kololo of Sebetwane and the Ndebele of Mzilikazi raid Tswana towns, scattering several chiefdoms, before both move north across the Limpopo and Zambezi.

2. 🇿🇦 South African Republic (Transvaal)1852 to 1885

   Boers of the Transvaal push west into Tswana land. Sechele's Bakwena beat back a Boer commando at Dimawe in 1852. Fear of Boer expansion leads Britain to declare the Bechuanaland Protectorate in 1885.

3. British South Africa Company1889 to 1895

   Cecil Rhodes's chartered company wants to take over the protectorate. In 1895 Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I travel to London and persuade the British government to keep them under the Crown, though the company gets a strip for its railway.

4. 🇿🇦 Union of South Africa1910 to 1966

   South Africa expects to absorb the protectorate and keeps asking. Under its pressure, Britain exiles Seretse Khama in 1950 for marrying a white Englishwoman, Ruth Williams. He returns in 1956 and in 1966 leads Botswana to independence.

5. 🇿🇼 Rhodesia1966 to 1979

   As the Rhodesian war intensifies, Rhodesian troops cross into Botswana in pursuit of guerrillas. Botswana founds its own army, the Botswana Defence Force, in 1977, and fifteen of its soldiers are killed in the Lesoma ambush of 1978.

6. 🇿🇦 South Africa (apartheid)1980 to 1990

   South Africa accuses Botswana of sheltering ANC fighters. Its commandos raid Gaborone in June 1985, killing twelve people, and strike again in 1986, until the end of apartheid removes the threat.

7. 🇳🇦 Namibia1990 to 1999

   After Namibia's independence, the two countries dispute Kasikili, or Sedudu, a small island in the Chobe river. They bring the case to the International Court of Justice, which rules for Botswana in December 1999.

Today

Botswana now

In the early 1800s, multiple political entities in what is now Botswana were destabilized or destroyed by a series of conflicts and population movements in southern Africa. By the end of this period, the Tswana ethnic group, who also live across the border in South Africa, had become the most prominent group in the area. In 1852, Tswana forces halted the expansion of white Afrikaner settlers who were seeking to expand their territory northwards into what is now Botswana.

Capital

Gaborone

Government

parliamentary republic

Head of state

Duma Boko

Languages

English

Area

581,730 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population2.5 million2023 · 413,700 in 1950
• Life expectancy69.2 years2023 · 46.2 years in 1950
• GDP per person$16,3512022 · $489 in 1950
• Living in cities68%2025 · 3% in 1950
• Literacy81%2003 · 23% in 1950
• Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending3.1% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.