02/11/2024
THE SAN PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA…
Who are the San people? 🇧🇼🇿🇦🇳🇦
The San are the oldest inhabitants of Southern Africa, having lived at least 20,000 years ago. The term San is most commonly used to refer to a diverse group of hunter-gatherers living in southern Africa who share historical and linguistic ties. The total San population is only 100,000 with the majority being 63,000 in Botswana which is 2.8% of the population, 27,000 in Namibia and 10,000 in South Africa.
The San are some of the naturally light-skinned Africans along with the Nama and Batswana. This light-skin "question" made scholars and anthropologists such as Schlebusch (1996) and Yates (1994) wonder if there was an exchange between the Kush*te pastoralists and the Khoisan peoples. Various Y chromosome studies have shown that San carry some of the most divergent (oldest) human Y haplogroups. These subgroups are specific subgroups of haplogroups A and B, the two oldest branches on the human Y chromosome tree.
Do San still live in ancient times? San societies in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia have all evolved and adapted to modern times. Entire new villages with schools and clinics have been built in Botswana to resettle San. This has led to many San being educated and migrating to urban areas. Poverty is still high among the San compared to most societies that have led to affirmative action so that they are given opportunities.
The San communities still rely on their culture and traditions to attract tourists as people are "curious" about their way of life. It is said that the Chinese people came from San, which is a historical legend that has not yet been verified.
