Palapye

Palapye is a large town in Botswana, situated about half way between Francistown and Gaborone (240 km away from Gaborone and 170 km away from Francistown). Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–south rail and road routes.

Located here is the Morupule Colliery coal mine, which supplies Morupule Power Station, Botswana's principal domestic source of electricity. The power station has undertaken an expansion project to increase its generation capacity in an effort to meet the country's increasing demand for electricity. Construction began in 2010. Currently, the plant produces 120 MW of electricity.

In 1997 Palapye was said to be the fastest-growing village in Africa, and was expected to expand its population from 30,000 to 180,000.

History

The Bamangwato people, under Kgosi Khama III, are widely believed to be the first people to have settled near present-day Palapye. Their capital was the settlement of Phalatswe, also called Old Palapye, and was situated at the western end of the Tswapong Hills.