Republic of Botswana

State · 1967–2026 CE · at its largest around 1990 CE

A landlocked southern African country, formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, which gained independence in 1966 under Seretse Khama. Diamond wealth and stable democracy have made it a regional success story.

On its lands while it lasted

Nelson Mandela (1918 CE – 2013 CE): Anti-apartheid leader imprisoned for 27 years who became South Africa's first Black president in 1994 and shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
Soweto uprising (1976 CE): Protests by Black schoolchildren against Afrikaans-medium instruction, beginning on 16 June 1976, were met with police gunfire that killed at least 176 people.
1994 South African general election (1994 CE): South Africa's first election with universal suffrage, held in April 1994, which ended apartheid and brought Nelson Mandela to the presidency.