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| a. Botswana |
| 1966, Sept. 30 |
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| Botswana became independent as a republic under Pres. Sir Seretse Khama. Khama's Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) won 28 of 31 seats in the legislature. The Botswana National Front (BNF), more Socialist in orientation than the ruling BDP, was formed as the main opposition party. | 1 |
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| 1970–1980 |
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| Botswana declared support for the Nationalist Patriotic Front in Rhodesia and served as a sanctuary for Nationalist guerrillas. | 2 |
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| 1980, July 13 |
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| Pres. Khama died and was succeeded by his vice president, Quett Masire. | 3 |
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| 1980–90 |
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| Botswana accepted refugees from South Africa while refusing to allow South African liberation groups to operate on its soil; it suffered numerous cross-border raids by the South African Defence Forces, including a 1985 attack in the capital, Gaberone, that killed 15. | 4 |
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| 1984, Sept |
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| Pres. Masire won reelection, and the BDP continued to hold 29 of 34 elective seats in the legislature. | 5 |
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| 1998 |
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| According to UN estimates, Botswana became the most HIV/AIDS-threatened country in the world, with as much as 36 percent of its adult population being infected with the disease. | 6 |
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| 1999, Oct. 16 |
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| National Assembly elections saw 33 of 40 open seats go to the Botswana Democratic Party, which had ruled the nation's politics since 1966. | 7 |
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| 2000, Aug |
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| Pres. Festus Mogae announced a plan for the near future to enable health facilities around the nation to provide free AIDS medications for Botswana's infected citizens. | 8 |
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