Gaborone

Gaborone (formerly Gaberones), capital city of Botswana, in south-east Botswana near the Notwani River. It is situated on the railway from South Africa to Zimbabwe. The city is primarily an administrative centre with government offices, but light industry is of some importance, with a small manufacturing sector that produces metal and wood artefacts. A stock market opened in the city in 1989 and the city’s financial sector began to develop in the 1990s. Located in Gaborone are the National Museum and Art Gallery and the University of Botswana (1976). The community was founded by the British South Africa Company in the 1890s as part of the Gaborone Block, originally reserved for white settlement. Gaborone remained a small town until the administrative seat of Bechuanaland (which became independent as Botswana in 1966) was transferred there in 1965 from Mafeking (now Mafikeng). Population 199,000 (2003 estimate).