Tswana people

Tswana
Depiction of a congregation of Tswana people with David Livingstone, by the London Missionary Society, circa 1900
Regions with significant populations
 Botswana poulation of ethnic Tswana is unknown - the last census to solicite ethnicity in Botswana was in 1946 (Tlou, 1985) in two districts - In Ngamiland the ethnic Tswana were half the population of the non-Tswana (7,000 vs 16 000 (Wayeyi alone) (Tlou 1985). In the Central District, the non-Tswana - the Kalanga specifically, were more the than the Tswana. The ethnic Tswana are found in the Southern part of the Country. Walter and Ringenberg (1994) estimated that the non-Tswana make 90% of the Population. RETENG, an organisation which has long advocated for national census to ask ethnicity of citizens without success did an estimate study using the 2001 Population data and estimated that the ethnic Tswana made 17.9% of the population while the non-Tswana made 60%. Since Sestswna is medium of instruction in school currently about 78% of the population of Botswana are able to speak Setswana (Central Statistics Office, 2001) with varying levels of competence and comprehension. [1]
 South Africa 3,900,000 (Tswana-speakers) [2]
Languages

Tswana language
Religion

Christianity and African traditional religion.
Related ethnic groups

Other Bantu peoples of South Africa
 person  Motswana
 people  Batswana
 language  Setswana
 country  Botswana

The Tswana (Tswana: Batswana, singular Motswana) are a Southern African people. The Tswana language belongs to the Bantu group of the Niger–Congo languages. Ethnic Tswana make up about 80% of the population of Botswana.

In the nineteenth century, a common spelling and pronunciation of Batswana was Bechuana. Europeans therefore referred to the area inhabited by the Tswana as Bechuanaland. In the Tswana language, however, Botswana is the name for the country of the Tswana.

Contents

Dynasties and tribes

Botswana

The modern republic of Botswana (formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland) is named for the Tswana people. All the country's eight 'major' tribes speak Tswana. All have a traditional Paramount Chief, styled Kgosikgolo, who is entitled to a seat in the House of Chiefs. The Tswana dynasties are all related, and some have known splits into two or three competing lines.

The principal Tswana tribes are the:

South Africa

The largest number of ethnic Tswana people actually live in South Africa. They are one of the larger black minorities, and the Tswana language is one of the eleven official languages nationwide. Until 1994, South African Tswana people were notionally citizens of Bophuthatswana, one of the few bantustans that actually became reality as planned by the Apartheid regime.

The Chiefs of the following Tswana polities are all styled Kgosi (less lofty then Kgosikgolo):

Elsewhere

In Namibia and Zimbabwe the Tswana do not constitute any significant polity.

Livestock

Tswana is also the name of some breeds of animal originating in Botswana.

Cattle
Tswana (cattle)
Ass
The Tswana donkey is used for draught power purposes.

References

  1. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bc.html#People
  2. ^ http://www.statssa.gov.za/census01/html/CInBrief/CIB2001.pdf

External links

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