Jwaneng is a town located in the Southern District

Southern District (Botswana)

Southern is one of the districts of Botswana. The capital of Southern district is Kanye, home to the Bangwaketse. It is one of the largest growing villages in Botswana. There are also other large villages in the southern district like Mushopa home to the Bakgatla-ba-ga Mmanaana, and Goodhope, home...

 of Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

, but it is not part of this, being a separate district, with its own Town Council.

History

The town was formed around the Jwaneng diamond mine

Jwaneng diamond mine

The Jwaneng diamond mine is the richest diamond mine in the world and is located in south-central Botswana about west of the city of Gaborone, in the Naledi river valley of the Kalahari. Jwaneng, meaning "a place of small stones", is owned by Debswana, a partnership between the De Beers company...

, considered the richest in the world in terms of its content of gem-quality diamonds. At its inception it was a 'closed town', meaning that in order to live there permission was needed from the owners of the mine, Debswana

Debswana

Debswana Diamond Company Ltd, or simply Debswana, is a giant mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50 percent of...

.