State · 1966 – present

Botswana

A state of 1966 – present — 60 years, still standing in sub-Saharan Africa. It replaced Bechuanaland Protectorate. The atlas records 7 things within it — famine and plague 1 · people 6. Its line of rulers holds 6 people.

Still standing: the span runs to the year of the build, 2026.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood: 60 years; and still standing
Rulers: 6; the President of Botswana
Most ground: 578,900 km²; in 1990
Within it: 7; recorded rows
Symbols: 2; on record, with years

Map: Botswana in 1990, its borders in gold among its neighbours — Botswana in 1990, when it held the most ground the borders dataset draws for it: 578,900 km². Its neighbours wear their tints, as on the atlas's own map. Borders from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0), coast and rivers from Natural Earth, cities from Reba, Reitsma & Seto 2016 (CC BY 4.0), each city under the name it bore that year.

Where it sits in time

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.

Before and after

The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.

Before it

Bechuanaland Protectorate · replaces · 1885 – 1966

Rulers

The line of President of Botswana - the office this state names as its head of state.

died in officeleft alive by a regular roadstill in officeending not on recorda second row: a reign that began before the last had ended — rival claimants, or a shared throne

Ruler	Reign	Length	How it ended · source
Seretse Khama	1966 – 1980	14 years	died in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death
Quett Masire	1980 – 1998	18 years	resigned or stood down, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
Festus Mogae	1998 – 2008	10 years	resigned or stood down, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
Ian Khama	2008 – 2018	10 years	ending not on record
Mokgweetsi Masisi	2018 – in office	in office since 2018	still in office
Duma Boko	2024 – in office	in office since 2024	still in office

6 rulers, 6 with terms dated as terms, covering 1966 – 2024. Median reign 12 years. 0 of 5 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

Ground held, by year

km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.

578,800 km² in 1976, 578,900 km² in 2016; at its largest 578,900 km² in 1996. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.

Flags and arms, in order

Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.

flag, from 1966Flag of Botswana · Public domain
coat of arms, from 1966Coat of arms of Botswana · Public domain

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

1900 – 19996 rows

Mokgweetsi Masisi · ruler · 1961 – present
Seretse Khama · ruler · 1921 – 1980
Festus Mogae · ruler · 1939 – present
Ian Khama · ruler · 1953 – present
Quett Masire · ruler · 1925 – 2017
Duma Boko · ruler · 1969 – present

2000 – 20991 row

COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana · plague · 2020

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

How long it stood60 years
stood longer than 37% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
The most ground it held578,900 km²
held more ground at its peak than 76% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
Wars recorded per centurynone
had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
How long a reign lasted, at the median14 years
had longer reigns, at the median, than 46% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.
Rulers on record6
has more rulers on record than 69% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

What led to it, and what came of it

The investigation's own picture: 1 cause the record names and 0 results, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.

linked

Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.

Open in the atlas

On the timeline, 1956 – 2036, with everything that stood beside it.
On the map in 1990, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.

Wikidata Q963 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.