The capital of Botswana, Gaborone is named after Chief Gaborone, who led his tribe to this area from the Magaliesberg round about 1880. Ten years later Cecil John Rhodes chose this little settlement as the site of a colonial fort, where, it is said, the abortive Jameson Raid into South Africa was planned. Still little more than an administrative village when Botswana began to move towards independence in the early sixties, it was chosen as the site for the new capital due
to its strategic location, the availability of a reliable water supply and it's proximity to the cross-continental railway line.
Fevered construction began in 1964, and in 1966 the Republic of Botswana achieved full independence under Sir Seretse Khama. At the time of independence, Botswana was counted among the ten poorest nations on earth. The discovery of the country's diamond wealth came within five years, and turned Botswana into one of the richest countries in Africa and the third largest producer of diamonds in the world. It also provided a growth rate and economic buoyancy unparalleled in Africa.
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