Gaborone

Why it's the capital

Until 1965 the Bechuanaland Protectorate was run from Mafeking, a town outside its own borders, in what is now South Africa. A new capital was built from 1964 on a site close to fresh water and the railway to Pretoria, and not tied to any single tribe. Botswana became independent in 1966.

Fun facts

1. The city is named after Chief Gaborone of the Tlokwa people. Europeans spelled it 'Gaberones' until the name was changed in 1969.
2. Kgale Hill, next to the city, is nicknamed the 'Sleeping Giant' and rises to about 1,290 m.
3. The Three Dikgosi Monument honours three chiefs who travelled to Britain in 1895 and persuaded the British government not to merge their land with Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company.