Timeline: Botswana

A chronology of key events

1867 - European gold prospectors arrive, mining begins.

1885 - British proclaim a protectorate called Bechuanaland.

SIR SERETSE KHAMA Served as Botswana's first president (1966-80) Became chief at age of four Forced into exile by Britain after marrying Ruth Williams On return, negotiated terms of independence Promoted multiracial democracy

1890 - British protectorate is extended to Chobe river.

1950 - Chief of the Ngwato, Seretse Khama, is deposed and exiled by the British.

1952 - Rioters protest at Seretse Khama's exile.

1959 - Copper mines are established.

1960 - Bechuanaland People's Party (BPP) is established.

1960 December - Britain approves new constitution for Bechuanaland. Executive Council, Legislative Council and African Council are established.

1961 - Seretse Khama appointed to Executive Council.

1962 - Seretse Khama founds Bechuanaland Democratic Party (BDP), later to become Botswana Democratic Party.

1965 - Gaborone becomes administrative centre.

1965 - BDP wins legislative elections, first to be held under universal adult suffrage. Seretse Khama becomes prime minister.

Independence

1966 September - Bechuanaland is granted independence and becomes Republic of Botswana with Seretse Khama as president.

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH Diamonds, recovered from open-cast mines, have been a major earner since 1970

1967 - Diamonds discovered at Orapa.

1969 August - BDP wins general election. Khama is re-elected for another term.

1977 January - UN Security Council resolution demands Rhodesian hostilities on Botswana border cease.

1977 March - Botswana Defence Force is established.

1979 October - General elections: BDP wins majority, Khama is re-elected as president.

1980 - Botswana is founder member of Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), grouping which aims to reduce region's economic reliance on South Africa.

1980 - President Seretse Khama dies. Quett Masire, former vice-president, is made president after National Assembly vote.

Quett Masire retired in 1998 after 18 years as president

1984 September - General elections: BDP wins majority, Quett Masire is re-elected as president.

1985 June - Buildings in Gaborone are raided and 12 people are killed by South African forces seeking alleged ANC members. Action is condemned by UN Security Council.

1989 October - General elections; BDP wins majority. National Assembly re-elects Masire as president.

1991 - 12,000 public sector workers sacked after strike action calling for increased wages.

1994 October - Legislative elections: BDP secures 53% of vote. Masire re-elected by National Assembly.

Kalahari relocations

1995 - Government begins relocating thousands of bushmen to settlements outside Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

1997 - Constitutional amendments approved. Presidency is limited to two five-year terms. Voting age lowered from 21 to 18.

Much of arid Botswana is sparsely-populated

1998 March/April - Masire resigns as president and retires. Festus Mogae, formerly vice president, becomes president under new constitutional arrangements.

1998 June - Botswana Congress Party established after split in BNF and is declared official opposition after most BNF deputies switch allegiance.

1999 September - Six-day state of emergency declared to resolve voter registration problem.

1999 October - General elections: BDP wins majority, Festus Mogae is confirmed as president.

1999 December - International Court of Justice grants control of Sedudu-Kasikili - a river island disputed by Botswana and Namibia - to Botswana.

2000 February/March - Devastating floods: More than 60,000 are made homeless.

Battle against Aids

2000 August - President Mogae says Aids drugs will be made available free of charge from 2001.

2001 March - National diamond corporation, Debswana, says it will subsidise drugs for workers with Aids.

2002 March - Kalahari bushmen take the government to court to challenge a forced eviction from their land; the case is dismissed on a technicality.

2003 September - Botswana begins erecting a fence along its border with Zimbabwe to stem an influx of Zimbabwean illegal immigrants.

San woman: Hunter-gatherer life is a thing of the past 2006: Bushmen win land ruling 2004: Bushmen mourn lost lifestyle

2004 March - HIV infection rate falls to 37.5%; Botswana no longer has the world's highest rate of infection.

2004 August - Workers at Botswana's largest diamond-mining company strike over pay, after a court rules that such action is illegal. Some 1,000 workers are sacked.

2004 October - President Mogae secures a second term in a landslide election victory.

2006 December - A group of Bushmen wins a four-year legal battle to hold on to their ancestral lands.

2008 March - Botswana launches its own diamond trading company - the Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB).

2008 April - Seretse Khama Ian Khama takes over as president.

2008 October - Botswana's former President Festus Mogae wins a $5m prize set up to encourage good governance in Africa.

2009 April - Botswana says it will half diamond production because of falling demands for gems.

2009 October - Ruling BDP party wins elections, and another 5-year term for President Khama.