Francistown
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Francistown Toropo |
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|---|---|
 Francistown
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| Coordinates: 21°10′25″S 27°30′45″E / 21.17361°S 27.51250°E | |
| Country | Botswana |
| District | North East District |
| Founded | 1897 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Sylvia Muzila |
| Elevation | 1,001 m (3,284 ft) |
| Population (2011 census) | 100,079 |
| • Metro | 150,800 |
| Time zone | Central Africa Time (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+2) |
| Geographical area code | 2XX |
| Climate | BSh |
Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 100,079 and 150,800 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2011 census. and often described as the "Capital of the North." It is located in eastern Botswana, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone. Francistown is located at the confluence of the Tati and Inchwe rivers, and near the Shashe River (tributary to the Limpopo) and 90 kilometres from the international border with Zimbabwe. Francistown was the centre of southern Africa's first gold rush and is still surrounded by old and abandoned mines. The City of Francistown is an administrative district, separated from North-East District. It is administered by Francistown City Council.
Although evidence of habitation by humans goes back around 10,000 years, written evidence is more recent. The Matabele people (Ndebele) colonised the area in the 1830s on their way to Bulawayo, bringing their culture and influence to the BaKalanga/Kalanga area of north-eastern Botswana. Reportedly, Nyangabgwe was the nearest village to Francistown to have been visited by Europeans, when it was visited by the missionary, Robert Moffat. Moffat was followed in 1867 by a gold prospector, Karl Mauch who found the Bakalanga mining gold along the Tati River.
The present town was founded in 1897, by the Bakalanga as a settlement near the Monarch mine and named after Daniel Francis, an English prospector from Liverpool who acquired prospecting licenses in the region in 1869. Francis was a director of the Tati Land Concessions Land (Tati Concessions Company), who stole all the land in the settlement. The centre of the new town was formed when the company sold off 300 lots in August of that year. The Monarch mine was not the only mine in operation at that time, and it was widely believed that Francistown would grow rapidly.
In the beginning, the town comprised one street east of, and parallel to the railway line. This street featured several companies, including two hotels, (the Grand and the Tatti), retail and wholesale shops and three banks. Behind these were the houses of the few white settlers. Today this very street, Tainton Avenue, still carries the influences of its white origins on its back.
Prior to independence Francistown was Botswana’s largest commercial centre. In 1897, the company sold part of the land for residential and commercial purposes, and one may say that this marked the birth of Francistown. The city started as a gold mining town, and gold sustained the area’s economy from the late 1800s until the 1930s. When gold was discovered nearby in 1869 it sparked the first gold rush in Africa fifteen years before the gold boom at Witwatersrand in South Africa. The industry was hard hit by the global recession of the 1930s. Between 1936 and 1980s, the economy of Francistown was largely supported or dependent on the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, a company that recruited labour for South African mines. The miners were recruited from many African countries, and transported to South Africa through Francistown by air or railway.
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Wikipedia