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Ghanzi | |
---|---|
Town | |
Coordinates: 21°42′S21°49′E / 21.700°S 21.817°E | |
Country | Botswana |
District | Ghanzi District |
Area | |
• Land | 1,800 km2 (690 sq mi) |
Elevation | 1,420 m (4,660 ft) |
Population (2021) | |
• Total | 21,420 |
Climate | BSh |
Ghanzi is a town in the middle of the Kalahari Desert the western part of the Republic of Botswana in southern Africa. The region is the country's pride in contributing a large portion towards the beef industry. In fact, Ghanzi farmers provide about 75% percent of beef exports, according to the Botswana Meat Commission, primarily to the United Kingdom and the European Union. [1]
At the time of the 2021 census, there are 21,420 people living in the town with another 6,900 nearby. [2] Ghanzi is the administrative center of Ghanzi District and is considered the "capital" of the district, as it is the largest in terms of population and geographical measure. [3] Ghanzi District measures 117,910 square kilometres (29,140,000 acres) and is bordered by Ngamiland to the north, Central District to the east, and Kgalagadi and Kweneg Districts to the south. Its western border is shared with Namibia.
Other spellings of Ghanzi include "Gantsi" - which is more consistent with Setswana, the national language of Botswana - "Ghansi"; and "Ghantsi". It has also been purported[ citation needed ] that the various renderings of Ghanzi actually stem from the Naro language word "Gaentsii", meaning "gigantic swollen buttocks", referring to the body part of an antelope, and later cattle that congregated around a pan in the area.
The first Afrikaner to settle in Ghanzi was the flamboyant Hendrik van Zyl, who crossed the Kalahari and set up a small hunting and trading enterprise in the area around 1870 and gained extravagant wealth in the ivory trade. However, the first substantial Boer migration into Ghanzi began around 1897–1898.
The place known today as Ghanzi was first called "Kamp". The Kalahari Arms Hotel and the Barclays bank in Ghanzi were some of the first businesses established in Ghanzi.
The town of Ghanzi was the subject of a 1988 LA Times article which described the close-knit relationship between resident Afrikaners and Bushmen. At the time, there was no radio or television in Ghanzi, and the Kalahari Arms Hotel, which was surrounded by a 9 foot high fence to keep lions out, hosted the only bar and discotheque in the area. [4]
Ghanzi is a place of different ethnic groups such as Afrikaners, Basarwa, Bakgalagadi and Baherero, who all have a spirit of tolerance. Residents of this place speak different languages such as Afrikaans, English, Sesarwa, Setswana, Sekgalagadi and Seherero, but their standard language is Shekgalagari and Naro. Though there is no available information as to the current numbers of the Afrikaner population, in 1973, Kalahari Boer made up about 10% of the population in Ghanzi. [5]
The district's land surface mainly consists of gently undulating sandveld which lies between 1,100 and 1,230 meters above sea level. The Kalahari is the largest continuous stretch of sand in the world, covering some 2,500 km2. Karoo sediments, covered by younger basaltic lavas, underlie most of the Kalahari sands and about half of the country of Botswana. The sands of the Kalahari vary in depth from 5m to 200m.
The climate is semi-arid. Mean maximum daily temperatures are 33-45 °C in January and around 22 °C in July; mean minimum temperatures are 4 to -5 °C in the winter months. The long-term mean annual rainfall is around 375mm although this can vary by up to 50% year by year. Generally speaking, both the climate and the soils are unfavorable for arable farming. Small cultivation is spread over the district but is limited to subsistence crops of maize, sorghum, beans, peas, and melons. [6] The record high temperature ever registered in Ghanzi was 42.2 °C (108.0 °F). [7] The lowest temperature registered in Ghanzi was −8.5 °C (16.7 °F). [7]
Climate data for Ghanzi (1971–2000) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 32.4 (90.3) | 31.9 (89.4) | 31.1 (88.0) | 29.3 (84.7) | 26.9 (80.4) | 24.1 (75.4) | 24.0 (75.2) | 27.2 (81.0) | 31.2 (88.2) | 33.2 (91.8) | 33.6 (92.5) | 33.3 (91.9) | 29.9 (85.7) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 19.3 (66.7) | 18.7 (65.7) | 17.0 (62.6) | 13.2 (55.8) | 8.2 (46.8) | 4.5 (40.1) | 4.1 (39.4) | 7.0 (44.6) | 11.8 (53.2) | 15.9 (60.6) | 17.8 (64.0) | 18.9 (66.0) | 13.0 (55.5) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 104.0 (4.09) | 94.8 (3.73) | 66.4 (2.61) | 26.7 (1.05) | 4.9 (0.19) | 0.2 (0.01) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.6 (0.02) | 4.5 (0.18) | 26.4 (1.04) | 39.8 (1.57) | 70.7 (2.78) | 439 (17.27) |
Average rainy days (≥ 10 mm) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 |
Source: World Meteorological Organization [8] |
Ghanzi has three banks – Barclays Bank, First National Bank, and Bank Gaborone, all of which have ATMs. Ghanzi now has three shopping centres: Ghanzi Spar, Shoprite and the recently opened Choppies, another retailer in Botswana.
Ghanzi Airport serves the town. There is currently no scheduled service, only charter and private operations.
Ghanzi is well known countrywide for its annual agricultural show usually held in August each year. The show was first held in 1974 with initial aim to exhibit livestock breeds, for the longest time livestock breeds exhibition has dominated part of the activities of the show. However, in recent years crop production exhibition has gained a spot in the show as way of diversifying activities of the show and the agricultural aspect of the region. [9] Stakeholders and government departments like Local Enterprise Authority also exhibits at the show. [10] Actions are also held at the premises and BDF (Botswana Defense Force) usually comes to show their weaponry.
Ghanzi is a stop over point for travellers wishing to visit the Okavango Delta; there are many lodges in the area and three filling stations. It is the only available fill-up point between Kang and Maun, which is about 500 km, if one are travelling to the Okavango Delta. There is one hotel in Ghanzi town, the Kalahari Arms Hotel which offers accommodation and has a restaurant and bar open to non-residents. Tau Tona Lodge is another hotel approximately 5 km from the centre of town it also has accommodation and a restaurant and bar open to non-residents. Less formal accommodation, food and drink is available at Thakadu Camp about 6 km from the centre of town. There are other B&Bs and lodges scattered throughout the town.
There are some interesting things to see in Ghanzi. Kuru, which is a charity assisting the San / Bushmen has a small shop selling hand made Bushmen crafts. There are few sightseeing spots in Ghanzi - lions are kept in enclosures at the main gate of TauTona. "Ghanzi gat" is a hole that was made while the tar road was being made in Ghanzi, but while using dynamite to break the rock open, the people accidentally opened a water vein. This filled the 40m deep hole with water.
Ghanzi is primarily dominant in cattle farming industry in Botswana. Today the town features a thriving Afrikaner cattle ranching industry. [11]
A large copper-silver deposit is being outlined at Ghanzi by Hana Mining. [12]
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 per cent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, Zambia to the north and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Being a country of slightly over 2.4 million people and roughly the size of France, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. It is essentially the nation-state of the Tswana people, who constitute 70 per cent of the population.
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana, as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa.
The Okavango Delta in Botswana is a vast inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari.
Lake Makgadikgadi was a paleolake that existed in what is now the Kalahari Desert in Botswana from 2,000,000 years BP to 10,000 years BP. It may have once covered an area of from 80,000 to 275,000 km2 and was 30 metres (98 ft) deep. The Okavango, Upper Zambezi, and Cuando rivers once all emptied into the lake. Its remains are seen in the Makgadikgadi salt pans, one of the largest salt pans in the world.
Maun is the fifth-largest town in Botswana. As of 2011, it had a population of 55,784. Maun is the "tourism capital" of Botswana and the administrative centre of Ngamiland district. Francistown and Maun are linked by the A3 highway. Maun is also the headquarters of numerous safari and air-charter operations who run trips into the Okavango Delta.
Kang is a village in Kgalagadi District of Botswana. It is situated in the Kalahari Desert and lies on the Trans-Kalahari Highway between Ghanzi in the north and Sekoma in the south. Kang also provides access to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the south-west and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in the north-east. The route via Ghanzi takes one to the Namibian border, whilst that to Sekoma leads to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. The population was 5,985 according to the 2011 census. Kang also falls under the Kgalagadi North constituency whose Member of Parliament is Hon. Talita Monnakgotla. The village is divided into seven wards which are; Gasekgalo, Gamonyemana, Gamotshoto, Gapanyana, Gamoriti, Kaatshwene and Tshwaragano ward. The village is led by a female chief, Kgosi Basadi Seipone who is the daughter to the late former chief Churchill Pego Seipone who died in 2010. The village's key development areas include the Central Roads Depot, Central Transport Organisation, Airstrip/Landing ground, mini Rural Administration Centre/ Service Centre, Botswana Open University Regional Campus, Brigade Centre, Police Station, Health Clinic, Magistrate Court, Department Road Transport Service offices, Wildlife offices, Botswana Power Corporation Offices, Water Utilities Corporation offices, Facility Management offices, Senior Secondary, Junior Secondary School and two primary schools.
Debswana Diamond Company Limited, or simply Debswana, is a mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana operates four diamond mines in the eastern and central parts of Botswana, as well as a coal mine. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50 percent of the company.
The North-West District or Ngamiland is one of the first-level administrative subdivisions of Botswana. For census and administrative purposes Ngamiland is subdivided into Ngamiland East, Ngamiland West and Ngamiland Delta (Okavango). It is governed by a District Commissioner, appointed by the national government, and the elected North-West District Council. The administrative centre is Maun.
Mahalapye is a town located in the Central District of Botswana. The town has about 41,000 inhabitants and is situated along the main road between the capital Gaborone and the second largest city Francistown. Mahalapye has a bus station, a railway station, a couple of hotels and a market area with many shops and fast food restaurants, Water Shed mall is the latest attraction to those travelling from Gaborone to Francistown. It also has several petrol stations, some open 24 hours per day. Being situated on the edge of the Kalahari desert it is quite dry, and the local waterways are dry except during the rainy season. In recent times, it has become a convenient stop-over town for travelers travelling to and from Gaborone.
Besides referring to the language of the dominant people groups in Botswana, Setswana is the adjective used to describe the rich cultural traditions of the Batswana - whether construed as members of the Setswana ethnic groups or of all citizens of Botswana. the Batswana believe in the rich culture of Botho-Ubuntu, ‘‘People are not individuals, living in a state of independence, but part of a community, living in relationships and interdependence.’ Batswana believe in working together and in being united.
Khwai is a village on the north bank of the Khwai River in the North-West District of Botswana. The river is the northern boundary of the Moremi Game Reserve, and the village is just outside the north gate of the reserve, which is on the eastern side of the Okavango Delta.
The wildlife of Botswana refers to the flora and fauna of this country. Botswana is around 90% covered in savanna, varying from shrub savanna in the southwest in the dry areas to tree savanna consisting of trees and grass in the wetter areas. Even under the hot conditions of the Kalahari Desert, many species survive; in fact the country has more than 2500 species of plants and 650 species of trees. Vegetation and its wild fruits are also extremely important to rural populations living in the desert and are the principal source of food, fuel and medicine for many inhabitants.
New Xade is a village located in the central part of the Ghanzi District of Botswana. The population was 1,690 in 2021 census.
Botswana's principal tourist attractions are its game reserves, with hunting and photographic safaris available. Other attractions include the Okavango Delta region, which during the rainy season is a maze of waterways, islands, and lakes. The tourism industry also helped to diversify Botswana's economy from traditional sources such as diamonds and beef and created 23,000 jobs in 2005.
Bank Gaborone Limited is a commercial bank in Botswana. It is a subsidiary of the Capricorn Group.
The people of the country called Botswana are all referred to as Batswana(pl)/ Motswana(s) in reference to the country name or the land they all hail from, that is regardless of ethnicity, language, skin colour or heritage.
White Africans account for around 3% of the country's population.
Ancestral land conflict over the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) arose in the 1970s between the government of Botswana and the San people (Bushmen), and is ongoing, resulting in one of the most expensive court cases in the history of Botswana.
Gcwihaba is a cave in Botswana located in Okavango Delta region. The Gcwihaba Caves were part of the Kalahari landscape around 2 million years ago, at least for the entire period of the Pleistocene. The name of the cave is a San word and stands for "hyena's lair". The cave is situated 10 km away from the Namibian border. In 1932 it was first shown to a European, Ghanzi region farmer Martinus Drotsky, and the main cavern was named Drotsky's cavern after him.