What is Bechuanaland?
[[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|thumb|Flag of the [[British Empire]]]] [[File:SouthAfrica1885.svg|thumb|369x369px|Political map of South Africa, in 1885]] '''Bechuanaland''' was a federation of Tswana lands stretching from the territory of the Bangwato in present day [[Botswana]] to the Batlhaping area around present day [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]], South Africa. The area included large parts of what is now the [[North West (South African province)|North West]] and [[Northern Cape]] provinces of South Africa. Bechuanaland was declared a British [[protectorate]], in 1885, and subsequently divided the territory along the Molopo River. The areas to the South of the [[Molopo]] became British Bechuanaland and would later be handed over to the [[Cape Colony]], which in 1910 was part of the two British colonies, Cape Colony and Natal, which united with the [[Boer|Boer republic]]'s [[Transvaal|Transvaa]]<nowiki/>l and [[Orange Free State]] to form the Union of South Africa. The territory of modern-day [[Botswana]], North of Molopo became Bechuanaland Protectorate until independence in 1966. [[Great Britain]] offered protection against the Boer Republics after the Boers invaded Bechuanaland in the early 1880s establishing [[Stellaland]] and Goshen within Bechuanaland around present day [[Vryburg]], South Africa. The Christian missionary John MacKenzie of the [[London Missionary Society]] convinced Bangwato ruler Khama III and other [[Tswana language|Tswana]] rulers to seek Protectorate status and the Warren Expedition was dispatched from the Cape in 1885 to remove the Boers from Stellaland and Goshen and proclaim Bechuanaland a British Protectorate. It had a [[territory]] of approximately {{convert|582000|km2}}. After the British divided Bechuanaland into two, the [[Capital city|capital]] of Bechuanaland Protectorate now fell outside its territory: It was the modern-day city of [[Mahikeng]], then called Mafeking, in [[South Africa]]. {{authority control}} [[Category:Former British colonie