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 Population 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 Setswana 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 4,067,248 (Tswana-speakers)[2]
Languages
Tswana language
Religion
Christianity, African Traditional Religion.
Related ethnic groups
The Sotho, The Northern Sotho, The Khoisan people
Person Motswana
People Batswana
Language Setswana
Country Botswana

The Tswana (Tswana: Batswana, singular Motswana) are a Bantu speaking 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.

Dynasties and tribes

Botswana

The modern republic of Botswana (formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland) is named for the Tswana people. The country's eight major tribes speak Tswana. All have a traditional Paramount Chief, styled Kgosikgolo, who is entitled to a seat in the Ntlo ya Dikgosi (an advisory body to the country's Parliament). The Tswana dynasties are all related.

The three main branches of the Tswana tribe formed during the 14th century. Three brothers, Kwena, Ngwaketse and Ngwato, broke away from their father, Chief Molope, to establish their own tribes in Molepolole, Kanye and Serowe, probably in response to drought and expanding populations in search of pasture and arable land.[3]

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 eleven official languages in South Africa. Until 1994, South African Tswana people were notionally citizens of Bophuthatswana, one of the few bantustans (similar to American Indian reservations) as planned by the Apartheid regime, 1948–1994.

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

Bechuana hunting the lion, 1841
Bechuana of Distinction, 1841


Elsewhere

Livestock

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

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

References

  1. ↑ "CIA – The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
  2. ↑ "Census in Brief" (PDF). Statssa.gov.za. Retrieved 2012-10-01.
  3. ↑ "Botswana History". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 15 October 2012.

External links

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