Mmadikola

Mmadikola is a village in the Central District of Botswana. It is located in the western part of the district, close to Makgadikgadi Pan, and it has a primary school. The population was 828 in 2001 census.[1]

Mmadikola
Village
Mmadikola
Location of Mmadikola in Botswana
Coordinates: 21.04010834930°S 24.46649518080°E / -21.04010834930; 24.46649518080

Mmadikola is a small rural village. It has a population of around 5000, mixed with Bayei (who make large part of the population), Bakalanga, Bananjwa and Banoka.

The reasons for the small population may be that people migrated from the village because there are no industries set up, no minerals to extract, and poor soils for both pastoral and arable farming.

Somewhere in the 1900s due to divide and rule, the Yeyi people were moved from areas around Maun to the central district. According to the elders, the few Yei people that were migrated from the Ngami region pleaded with the authorities at the time to at least leave them at Mmadikola, the reason being they are people of the water as their name carries that meaning. At the time a large area of Mmadikola was covered with water and rivers were overflowing. They were left there.

Today most Mmadikola residents migrate to the nearby big villages like Letlhakane and Orapa where the diamond mines are to find jobs.

On 9 February 2016, Thembani Moitlhobogi from Mmadikola, won the competition of naming the second-largest gem-quality diamond ever found.[2] He named the stone Lesedi La Rona which means "Our Light".[3][4][5] He stated that his reason for the name was that "the diamond is a pride, light and hope of Batswana".[5] During the competition Lucara Diamond Corporation received 11,000 emails and 1,000 SMSs with name suggestions.[6] In addition to naming the diamond, Moitlhobogi also received P25,000 (about $2,170).[7]

References
  1. "Distribution of population by sex by villages and their associated localities: 2001 population and housing census". Archived from the original on 2007-11-24. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  2. MacDonald, Alex (19 November 2015). "World's Second-Largest Diamond Discovered in Botswana". www.wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  3. "Lucara Names 1,111 Carat Diamond Lesedi La Rona". www.marketwired.com. Marketwired L.P. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  4. "News". www.lucaradiamond.com. Lucara Diamond. 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  5. Ngwako, Portia (9 February 2016). "Largest Diamond Named". www.thevoicebw.com. The Voice Newspaper Botswana. Archived from the original on 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  6. le Cordeur, Matthew (9 February 2016). "Largest diamond found in 100 years named". www.fin24.com. News24. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  7. Ngwako, Portia (18 January 2016). "Batswana To Name Biggest Diamond". www.thevoicebw.com. The Voice Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
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