Jwaneng is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

located in the Southern District of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

, 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 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 ...

, 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 Diamond Company Limited, or simply Debswana, is a mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana operates four diamond mines in the eastern and central parts of Botswana, as well a ...

. In 2015, Jwaneng had 13,162 residents. It was identified as the second richest village in Botswana, with a poverty rate of less than 3%.

Transportation

The town and the mine are served by the

Jwaneng Airport Jwaneng Airport is an airport serving Jwaneng, a town in the Southern District of Botswana. It is owned by Debswana, which also owns the Jwaneng diamond mine. There is no scheduled airline service. The Jwaneng non-directional beacon (Ident: JW ...

References

Populated places in Botswana Southern District (Botswana) {{Botswana-geo-stub