Kanye

Kanye is a town in southern Botswana, located 83km south-west of the capital, Gaborone. It is the administrative centre of the Southern District, and had a population of 45,196 at the 2011 census, making it the eighth-largest town in the country. Kanye is the traditional capital of the Ngwaketse tribe, who first settled in the area in the 1790s. The town is the longest continuously occupied tribal capital in the country.GeographyKanye lies on a series of hills which form a natural protective barrier against the sands of the Kalahari Desert. The hills extend into the Bushveld region of South Africa. There is a deep natural gorge (called Kanye Gorge) close to the town, which was reputedly used as a hiding place for villagers during the various conflicts of the 19th century.HistoryKanye was established in the 1790s by Makaba, the paramount chief of the Ngwaketse (a tribe of the larger Tswana people). He moved his tribe to Kanye after losing a battle to the nearby Kwena tribe, fortifying an existing hill (Kanye Hill) with stone walls. In about 1798, Kanye was attacked by an alliance of Rolong and Griquas, but the Ngwaketse were able to repulse the attack and kill their opponents' leader. European traders and hunters began visiting Kanye in the early 19th century, but it was not until the reign of Gaseitsiwe (who became chief of the Ngwaketse in 1845) that they began to actually settle in the area. In 1852, Joseph McCabe, a British trader, crossed the Kalahari Desert from south to north, beginning in Kanye and ending at Lake Ngami.