Tswana people

The Batswana or Tswana (singular: Motswana ) are a Bantu ethnic group in Southern Africa. They live mainly in Botswana, South Africa (including the former Homeland Bophuthatswana ) and in Zimbabwe and Namibia ( Caprivi Strip ). Their total number is estimated internationally at around 4.5 million, of which approximately one million in Botswana and 3.3 million in South Africa. Their language is the Bantu language Setswana. Within the Bantu family they belong to the group of Sotho. There are numerous subgroups of the Batswana, for example, the Barolong, Bangwato and Bakwena.

The name of the state derives from the Botswana Batswana who provide the majority of the population there. Batswana is also used as a term for all the inhabitants of Botswana, including the Khoisan peoples.

Previously each Batswanavolk was ruled by a royal officer, the Kgosi. The Kgosi was both the secular and the spiritual leader because he was the intermediary for Modimo, their highest God. Traditionally they lived in so-called giants: villages with a population up to 40,000 people.

A special status symbol the bovine, by whose possession the social position is determined. Today, for every citizen of Botswana, two oxen, which the cattle one of the most important economic factors Botswana is. A musical instrument of the shepherd is the one-string, painted with the arch trough zither segankuru ( sefinjolo ).

Pictures of Tswana people

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