Bophuthatswana (SWM)

Bophuthatswana (officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana) is a partially recognized landlocked state located in central Southern Africa. It is bordered to the north by Botswana and to the south, west and east by South Africa. It shares a small strip of land on a portion of its southern border with KwaNdebele, another partially recognized nation. Bophuthatswana was established in 1961 by the South African white minority government as a homeland for the Tswana people of South Africa, as part of the then-ruling National Party policy of Separate Development (known internationally as "Apartheid"). It was granted self-government on 1 June 1972 and achieved full independence from South Africa on 6 December 1977. Only recognized by its fellow black homelands and South Africa, Bophuthatswana is considered to be a puppet of the Pretoria government of South Africa.