A History of Census Taking in Botswana, 1904-2011

Abstract

Census taking is as old as humankind. Historically, the taking of census has been associated with political, administrative, taxation and military requirements. In Botswana, the history of census taking is traceable to 1904 during the British colonial period. Between 1904 and 1964 the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) administration conducted censuses at irregular intervals owing to administrative and political challenges some of which were beyond its control. For instance, the censuses were conducted in 1904, 1911, 1921, 1936, 1946, 1956 and 1964. All these experienced serious challenges rendering the results questionable. The 1964 census coincided with the constitutional talks and the fi rst general elections which led to Botswana’s independence in 1966. Five censuses have been conducted after Botswana gained independence each occurring every ten years since 1971 and the recent being 2011. The uses of census and the list of census variables included in the various censuses are dealt with in this paper. Therefore, this paper presents, albeit briefl y, a history of census taking in Botswana over a period of roughly 100 years.