Gumare or
Gomare is a rural village located in the North-West District of
BotswanaBotswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, near the
Okavango DeltaThe Okavango Delta , in Botswana, is the world's largest inland delta. It is formed where the Okavango River empties onto a swamp in an endorheic basin in the Kalahari Desert, where most of the water is lost to evaporation and transpiration instead of draining into the sea...
. The population of Gumare was 6,067 in 2001 census.
Four separate government institutions manage Ngamiland District:
- District Council;
- District Administration;
- Tribal Administration;
- Land Board.
Maun serves as the administrative center of Ngamiland. Gumare is the only sub-district, which is referred to as Okavango Sub-district, and has its own set of administrative institutions. Okavango’s administrative boundary starts at
Habu' is a Japanese name used to refer to certain venomous snakes:Snakes:* The following species are found in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan:** Trimeresurus elegans, a.k.a. the Sakishima habu, found in the southern Ryukyu Islands...
, including
QangwaQangwa is a village in North-West District of Botswana. It is located close to the western border against Namibia, and has a primary school and a health clinic. The population was 337 in 2001 census....
and Xaixai up to Gudigwa. Its political boundary starts from Etsha 1 up to Gudigwa and this is different from education and agriculture. There are 27 villages in Okavango Sub-district
Okavango is really only one part of the remarkable Kalahari ecosystem. Okavango is set within a geographically unstable area of faults and regularly experiences land movements,
tremorA tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic, muscle contraction and relaxation involving to-and-fro movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the hands, arms, eyes, face, head, vocal folds, trunk, and legs. Most tremors occur in the...
s and
quakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s. Hence, its natural world with a landscape that is always changing and quite unpredictable. There are
aridA region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
lands,
swampA swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s,
channelIn physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...
s,
lagoonA lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s,
grasslandGrasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s,
lakeA lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s and countless
islandAn island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s of various shape and size.
The predominant ethnic groups in the sub-district are Batawana, Bayei, Bahereo and Bambukushu, and Basubiya. There are also the Banoka (River
BushmanThe indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
), Okavango’s original inhabitants, and the Bakgalagadi and the Herero. Most groups form their settlements along the river, which they use for subsistence fishing and watering for livestock. They also plough the flood plains, growing maize and sorghum.
The major economic activities in the Okavango include tourism (although the tourist companies are predominantly owned by foreign companies), livestock rearing, handicrafts and small scale industries, and some agriculture. The Okavango Sub-district is largely rural with a population that is heavily dependent on farming for their daily needs. In 1975 a United Nations Development Project assisted villagers in Gumare and Etsha to develop their basket-making skills into an exportable product. Baskets and other small, high quality crafts were driven to Gabarone and exported from there to the United States and Europe for sale.
Like other districts in Botswana, the Okavango is faced with a serious challenge of high prevalence of
HIV/AIDSHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
among the communities.