The population of
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
is divided into the main ethnic groups of
Tswana people
The Tswana ( tn, Batswana, singular ''Motswana'') are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Tswana language is a principal member of the Sotho-Tswana language group. Ethnic Tswana made up approximately 85% of the pop ...
(79%),
Kalanga people
The Kalanga or Bakalanga are a southern Bantu ethnic group mainly inhabiting Matebeleland in Zimbabwe, northeastern Botswana and Limpopo Province in South Africa. They are historically related to the Nambya, Karanga, Bapedi and Venda.
Curren ...
(11%), and Basarwa (or
Bushmen) (3%).
The remaining 7% consist of other peoples,
including some speaking the
Kgalagadi language, and 1% of non-African people.
[
About 79% of the total population speak ]Setswana
Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zon ...
as second and first language. The ethnic Tswana is split up among eight tribes: Bamangwato The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal" Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. They ruled over a majority Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central Dis ...
, Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Bakgatla, Barolong
Barolong is a tribe of Tswana people from Botswana and South Africa. Their King, Tau was the descendant of King Morolong who is the founder of Barolong tribe. He reigned around 1240 and adopted ''Tholo'' (the Kudu) as the Barolong totem. King Tau w ...
, Bamalete, and Batlokwa, Batawana.
See also
* Languages of Botswana
The official language of Botswana is English, while Tswana is considered to be a national language. English, which was inherited from colonial rule, is the language of official business and most written communication. Most of the population spea ...
* List of African ethnic groups
The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each population generally having its own Languages of Africa, language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiati ...
References
{{Botswana-stub