Bophuthatswana - Geography and Demographics

Geography and Demographics

Bophuthatswana had a surface area of approximately 40 000 kmĀ² and consisted of six enclaves dispersed over the former South African provinces of Cape Province, Transvaal and Orange Free State. The capital Mmabatho was situated in an area bordering Botswana. The homeland was set up to house Setswana-speaking peoples. In 1983 it had more than 1,430,000 inhabitants; in 1990, it had an estimated population of 2,352,296. Only 10% of Bophuthatswana's total land area was arable, and much of that was covered with scrub brush.

Though the majority of its population was Tswana-speaking, Tswana, English, and Afrikaans were all designated as official languages by the constitution.

Read more about this topic:  Bophuthatswana

Famous quotes containing the words geography and and/or geography:

    At present cats have more purchasing power and influence than the poor of this planet. Accidents of geography and colonial history should no longer determine who gets the fish.
    Derek Wall (b. 1965)

    Where the heart is, there the muses, there the gods sojourn, and not in any geography of fame. Massachusetts, Connecticut River, and Boston Bay, you think paltry places, and the ear loves names of foreign and classic topography. But here we are; and, if we tarry a little, we may come to learn that here is best. See to it, only, that thyself is here;—and art and nature, hope and fate, friends, angels, and the Supreme Being, shall not absent from the chamber where thou sittest.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)