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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Migration in Botswana |
Authors: | Miller, H. Max Tarver, James D. |
Year: | 1988 |
Periodical: | African Urban Quarterly |
Volume: | 3 |
Issue: | 3-4 |
Period: | August-November |
Pages: | 278-284 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Botswana |
Subjects: | population growth urban areas urbanization Urbanization and Migration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
Abstract: | Population centres in Botswana must have at least 5,000 residents and 75 percent of their labour force employed in nonagricultural activities to qualify as urban. The number of urban centres increased from two in 1964, to three in 1971, to six in 1981, while the percentage of the total population living in urban areas went up from 3 in 1964 to 8 in 1971, and then to 16 in 1981. In comparison, Africa as a whole has about 30 percent of its inhabitants living in urban areas. Migration accounted for around two-thirds of the 1971 to 1981 urban population growth in Botswana, which is somewhat higher than the average of 40 percent for all developing countries. Certainly, urbanization will continue to increase in the future, especially in the national capital of Gaborone. However, industrialization is increasing more slowly than is urban population growth. Moreover, rural people tend to be strongly tied to traditional subsistence agriculture as a way of life. Therefore, both factors are likely to reduce somewhat the future rate of urban population growth in this sparsely settled developing country. Ref. |