| This Mere Men article has not been expanded past 1964 yet. |
| Republic of Botswana Lefatshe la Botswana (Tswana) Timeline: Mere Men
OTL equivalent: Botswana | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||
| Motto: Pula |
||||
| Anthem: Botswana Fatshe le Lentle |
||||
| Capital | Lobatse | |||
| Largest city | Mafikeng | |||
| Official languages | English, Setswana | |||
| Religion | Christian | |||
| Demonym | Batswana (plural) Motswana (singular) |
|||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency | |||
| - | President | |||
| - | Vice President | |||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||
| Independence from the United Kingdom | ||||
| Currency | Pula | |||
| Time zone | CAT | |||
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana (Setswana: Lefatshe la Botswana), occasionally also known as Bechuana or Bechuanaland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is surrounded by South Africa from the south, west and north and Matshobana to the east, with several exclaves in northeasten South Africa. The western portion of the country is covered in the Kalahari Deseret and the majority of the population lives in the eastern and southern portions of the country.
Territory of Botswana was populated by the Tswana ethnic group in several waves before 600 AD. By the end of the 19th century the territory was colonised by Britain and divided in two, with the north becoming the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the south eventually becoming a part of South Africa. Bechuanaland eventually gained independence in the 1960s during the decolonisation of Africa, while the southern territories under the name Bophuthatswana first became a Bantu homeland within South Africa.
History[]
Road to independence[]
Botswana was a British protectorate as Bechuanaland during the Second World War. During the late 1950s, an independence movement began forming, until in 1958 Bechuanaland received its first legislative assembly. During this period, the Bechuanaland political scene was dominated by the Botswana Democratic Party led by Tshekedi Khama and later by Rasebolai Kgamane after Tshekedi's sudden death in 1959. The BDP continued to push for independence throughout its term, which culminated in a contitutional convention in 1961.
However, other Tswana tribes, especially in the northern and western portions of the protectorate were wary of the Bamangwato-dominated BDP and after the opposition consolidated around 1960 the Botswana National Party under Motsamai Mpho was able to defeat the BDP in the 1962 election, conducted under the newly proposed constitution, and Mpho therefore became the first and only Prime Minister of Bechuanaland. The neighbouring South Africa, however, refused to recognise the results, and forbade Mpho, previously tried for treason there, from entering the country, including Mafikeng, the then capital of Bechuanaland. As a result, Mpho was represented by his deputy Quett Masire at most of the government affairs at this time. Ultimately, Bechuanaland gained independence as the Republic of Botswana in 1964 and Mpho was sworn in as the first President.