Ghanzi District

Ghanzi (sometimes Gantsi) is a district in western Botswana, bordering Namibia in the west and extending east into much of the interior of the country. The district's administrative centre is the town of Ghanzi. Most of the eastern half of Ghanzi makes up the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The human population at the 2001 census was 43,370, less populous than that of any other district in Botswana. Ghanzi's area is 117,910 km².

Location

In the west, Ghanzi borders the Omaheke Region of Namibia. Domestically, it borders the following districts:

Ghanzi is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

Sub-districts

Sub-districts of Ghanzi District include:

Settlements

The largest village in the district is the capital Ghanzi with a population of 9,934 according to the 2001 census, which is five times more than the second-largest village Ncojane has. The following is the list of the villages in Ghanzi district listed separately in 2001 census:

Ghanzi

Ghanzi is a town in the western part of the Republic of Botswana in southern Africa. At the time of the 2011 census, there were 12,167 people living in the town with another 861 nearby. It is the administrative center of Ghanzi District and is known as the "Capital of the Kalahari". Ghanzi District measures 117,910 square kilometres (29,140,000 acres) and is bordered by Ngamiland to the north, Central District to the east, and Kgalagadi and Kweneg Districts to the south. Its western border is shared with Namibia.

Other spellings

Other spellings of Ghanzi include "Gantsi", which is more consistent with Setswana, the national language of Botswana; "Ghansi"; and "Ghantsi". It has also been purported that the various renderings of Ghanzi actually stem from the Naro language word "Gaentsii", meaning "swollen buttocks", referring the good health of antelope and, later, cattle that congregated around a pan in the area.

History

The first Afrikaner to settle in Ghanzi was Hendrik van Zyl, who set up a small hunting and trading enterprise in the area around 1870. However, the first substantial Boer migration into Ghanzi began around 1897-1898.