Tswana, also known as
Setswana, is a
Bantu language. The national language of
Botswana, whose people are the
Batswana (singular Motswana). The majority of Tswana speakers are in
South Africa but there are also speakers in
Zimbabwe and
Namibia. Internationally there are about 4 million speakers. The
bantustan of
Bophuthatswana was set up to cover the Tswana speakers of South Africa.
The language is closely related to Sotho[?] and is in the Niger-Congo[?] family of languages. It has also been known as Beetjuans, Chuana, Coana, Cuana, and Sechuana.