MAPS OF HISTORY · HISTORY OF · Botswana

ONE LAND · 3 ATLASES

Botswana, on the map of history

What was Botswana before it was Botswana? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History collection — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.

Botswana · The Great War, 1914–1918

OPEN WWI ON THE LIVING MAP →

Botswana · The Cold War, 1945–1991

OPEN THE COLD WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →

Botswana · The Decolonization of Africa, 1945–1994

The Bechuanaland Protectorate became Botswana in September 1966 — poor, landlocked, and all but surrounded by white-ruled states, it looked among the least promising of the new nations. Under Seretse Khama it confounded the pessimists: a functioning multiparty democracy, and, once diamonds were found, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. A frontline state that sheltered refugees while quietly proving the era’s democratic exception was possible.

OPEN THE DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA ON THE LIVING MAP →