Serowe (population approximately 60,000) is an urban village in

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 Kal ...

's Central District. A trade and commercial centre, it is Botswana's third largest village. Serowe has played an important role in Botswana's history, as capital for the

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 ...

people in the early 20th century and as birthplace of several of Botswana's presidents. More recently it has undergone significant development as the town and as Botswana continues to grow.

History

Serowe has a memorial to Khama III, chief of the

people in the late 19th-early 20th century, who in 1903 founded the town as a new capital of the Bamangwato. It is also the birthplace of Seretse Khama, Botswana's first president, and the traditional center of the Bamangwato tribe. Swaneng Hill School was the first of the Brigades Movement schools founded by educationalist Patrick van Rensburg.

Geography

Serowe is located in a fertile area, well-watered by the Lotsane River. It lies west of the

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 cen ...

–

Francistown Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 and 147,122 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2022 census. and often described as the "''Capital of the North''" or as the natives would have it “''T ...

road, from w