Serowe

Serowe, village, east-central Botswana. It lies southwest of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and 30 miles (50 km) northwest of the Cape-to-Zimbabwe railway. Most of the country’s inhabitants live in large centralized villages of from 500 to 25,000 inhabitants. Serowe, the largest of these, is the traditional headquarters of the Bamangwato people. It consists primarily of clusters of round, traditional African houses surrounded by extensive compounds and gardens, the whole village in turn being surrounded by about 30 miles (50 km) of arable agricultural lands and cattle-grazing posts. Serowe was first occupied by the Bamangwato in 1920, after they had abandoned their earlier home in Palapye. One of Botswana’s main hospitals and an airfield are located there. Pop. (2001) 42,444; (2011) 50,820.