Gaborone, Botswana

Gaborone, Botswana
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MainMall.jpg
Author: Iulus Ascanius


Gaborone is the capital and biggest city in Botswana. It is located on the southeastern part of the country, just 15 km (9.3 mi) from the border with South Africa. Situated 983 m (3,225 ft) above sea level, Gaborone covers 169 sq km (65 sq mi) and has a population of 192,000 people (2012 estimate).

Gaborone was established in the 1960s to be the capital of the then Bechuanaland Protectorate. It was chosen over Lobatse, the original choice, because of the availability of fresh water source in its vicinity, and also because of the already existing railway line through the area to Pretoria.

Planned as a garden city, with ample open space, Gaborone was built over a period of three years, during which many of its early government buildings were constructed. At the time of independence in 1966, it had only around five thousand inhabitants. The city was planned to contain 20,000 people, a figure surpassed within ten years of its construction. It has continued to grow rapidly, becoming by far the largest city in Botswana.

Parliament of Botswana, Gaborone
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BotswanaParliament.jpg
Author: Iulus Ascanius

Visiting Gaborone

There are flights to Gaborone from Cape Town, Harare, Johannesburg, as well as from domestica destinations such as Francistown, Kasane and Maun. You can also take a bus from Pretoria.

Places of Interest in Gaborone

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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