Gaborone

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formerly (until 1969) Gaberones

City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 185,891), capital of Botswana.

It is located in southeastern Botswana near the border with South Africa. The seat of government was transferred there from Mafikeng, S.Af., in 1965, one year before Botswana became independent of Britain. Gaborone is on the Cape-Zimbabwe railway and is the site of government offices, parliament buildings, health facilities, a thermal power station, and an airport. It is the seat of the University of Botswana (1976) and also has a national museum and art gallery (1968).

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Botswana - Country, southern Africa.

More on "Gaborone" from the 32 Volume Encyclopædia Britannica:

Gaborone - town, capital of Botswana. The seat of government was transferred there from Mafeking (now spelled Mafikeng), South Africa, in 1965, one year before Botswana became independent of Britain. Gaborone is located on the Cape-Zimbabwe railway and is the site of government offices, parliament buildings, health facilities, a thermal power station, and an airport. It is the seat of the University of ...

Kanye - village, southern Botswana. It lies along a main road southwest of Gaborone, the national capital. It is one of the country's largest villages and the traditional headquarters of the Bangwaketse people. Kanye is equipped with a mission hospital, an airfield, banks, and schools. Pop. (1984 est.) 23,000.

Francistown - town, eastern Botswana. It lies along the Tati (Tate) River and is an administrative and commercial centre. Francistown is the site of the Dumela industrial complex. Some gold is mined in the vicinity. The town lies in farming country on the country's main road and rail line. Air transport services link Francistown with Gaborone and Selebi-Phikwe. Pop. (1991) 65,244.

Botswana - The 400-mile railway along the eastern side of the country was completed in 1897, linking South Africa and Zimbabwe, but had limited impact on the Botswana economy until the 1970s, when the first branch lines were opened to serve mining areas. At independence in 1966, there were only a few miles of paved roads-all inside town boundaries. Since then the major towns have been linked by paved main ...

Botswana - Diamonds, the major economic resource of the country, have been exploited on a large scale since 1970. They are mined from some of the world's largest diamond pipes at Orapa and Letlhakane, south of the Makgadikgadi pans, and at Jwaneng in the southeastern sandveld. Nickel and copper have been mined at Selebi-Phikwe near the Motloutse River since 1974. Coal is mined for power generation at ...

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