Batswana
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The Batswana or Tswana (singular Motswana ) are a Bantu - ethnic group in southern Africa .
They live mainly in Botswana , South Africa (including in the former homeland Bophuthatswana ) as well as in Zimbabwe and Namibia (in the former Hereroland ). Their total number is estimated at around 4.5 million internationally, of which around one million in Botswana and 3.3 million in South Africa. 6,000 Tswana are said to live in Namibia.
Their language is the Bantu language Setswana . Within the Bantu family, they belong to the Sotho group . There are numerous subgroups of the Batswana, for example the Barolong , Bangwato (Bamangwato) and Bakwena .
The name of the state of Botswana is derived from the Batswana, who make up the majority of the population there. Batswana is also used to refer to all Botswana residents, including the Khoisan peoples. In the colonial era , the Batswana was called Bechuana in English (hence the colonial name Bechuanaland for the British protectorate in what is now Botswana), and in German Bechuanen .
In the past, every Batswana people was ruled by a royal leader, the Kgosikgolo . The Kgosi was both the worldly and the spiritual guide as he was the mediator to the Modimo , their supreme god. Traditionally they lived in so-called giants : villages with a population of up to 40,000 people.
A special status symbol in rural regions is the cattle , whose possession determines social status. Today there are two cattle for every citizen of Botswana, making cattle breeding one of Botswana's most important economic factors. A musical instrument used by the shepherds is the single-stringed trog zither segankuru ( sefinjolo ) bowed with a bow .
See also
- Traditional leaders of the Tswana in Namibia
