Palapye

Palapye is a growing town in the Central District of Botswana, roughly midway between Francistown and Gaborone and about 70 kilometers north of the Tropic of Capricorn near the Lotsane River. It was first settled by the Bamangwato people under Chief Khama III, originally spelled Phalatswe, meaning the place for impalas, and the original settlement, including a church built in 1892, existed until 1902. The 2022 census recorded 52,398 residents, up from 37,256 in 2011, and the town hosts the Morupule Colliery, which supplies the Morupule power station, Botswana's principal domestic source of electricity, alongside the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, opened in 2012.