Browse / Botswana / Botswana / Kanye
Kanye
Botswanacity
Kanye
Total population
45,196
Founded
1853
Demographic figures from Statistics Botswana. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
Kanye is a village in southern Botswana, located 83 kilometres (52 mi) south-west of the capital, Gaborone. It is the administrative centre of the Southern District, and had a population of 48,028 as of the 2022 Population and Housing Census. This is an increase compared to the 45,196 of the 2011 census, making it the ninth-largest village in the country. Kanye is the traditional capital of the Ngwaketse tribe, who first settled in the area in the 1790s. The village is the longest continuously-occupied tribal capital in the country.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
Kanye was established in the 1790s by Makaba, the paramount chief of the Ngwaketse (a tribe of the larger Tswana people). He moved his tribe to Kanye after losing a battle to the nearby Kwena tribe, fortifying the existing Kanye Hill with stone walls. In about 1798, Kanye was attacked by an alliance of Rolong and Griquas, but the Ngwaketse were able to repel the attack and kill their opponents' leader. European traders and hunters began visiting Kanye in the early 19th century, but it was not until the reign of Gaseitsiwe (who became chief of the Ngwaketse in 1845) that they began to actually settle in the area. In 1852, Joseph McCabe, a British trader, crossed the Kalahari Desert from south to north, beginning in Kanye and ending at Lake Ngami. In June 1854, Robert Moffat passed through Kanye on his way north to the lands of the Matabele. He and his party found the town "completely destroyed as a result of the wars with the Boers", with the Ngwaketse living in the ruins. By the 1860s, Kanye had been rebuilt and was prospering as a trading centre for ivory, animal skins, and ostrich feathers. Although Kanye had received semi-regular visits from missionaries, a formal mission was not established until 1871, when the London Missionary Society sent a representative. In 1899, during the Second Boer War, the Ngwaketse allied with the British, with Kanye at one stage hosting a 500-strong column under the command of Colonel Herbert Plumer. In the early 20th century, Kanye became the first village in the Bechuanaland Protectorate to introduce irrigation projects and public standpipes. An asbestos mine opened in the 1920s. Former Vice-President and 2nd President of Botswana, Quett Masire was born in Kanye on 24 July 1926 and was buried in his home village after his death on 22…
Geography
Kanye lies on a series of hills which form a natural protective barrier against the sands of the Kalahari Desert. The hills extend into the Bushveld region of South Africa. The most notable hill in Kanye is Kgwakgwe hill. There are reports of Manganese mineralization at Kgwakgwe Hill valued at over 3 billion US dollars, and Giyani Metals is expected to begin mining operations by 2026. There is a deep natural gorge called Pharing Gorge in the village, which was reputedly used as a hiding place for villagers during the Mfecane wars of the 19th century. Kanye also has two natural dams: Mmamokhasi Dam and Mmakgodumo Dam.
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Air quality
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Earthquake history
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here
Nearby places in Botswana
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about Kanye
Search results from Open Library.
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species
Events
Gallery
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • Wikidata
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
- • Open Library
- • Wikidata SPARQL (CC0) — population, area, elevation, inception, head of government, Commons image