Matsiloje
village in Botswana
Matsiloje is a village in the North East District of Botswana on the west bank of the Ramokgwebana River, which forms the border with Zimbabwe.
A tarmac road connects the village to Francistown, to the east.
The village has a junior secondary school.
The village lies beside the Matsiloje hills, which are quarried for limestone used in manufacturing cement and soapstone products.
The exploratory Muphanephane gold mine is in the Matsiloje area.
In 2002 there was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the Matsiloje and Matshelagabedi areas, with another outbreak in the Matopi and Tseteng areas towards the end of the year. 12,000 cattle were killed in Matsiloje/Matshelagabedi and 4000 cattle in Matopi/Tseteng.
The government compensated farmers with cash and animals, and instituted a relief work program.
The village is affected by illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, and resulting crime.
Before construction of the Dikgatlhong Dam began to the south of Matsiloje in 2008, the government arranged for counselling services on AIDS to residents of Matsiloje as well as of the Mmadinare, Robelela, Matopi, Chokwe and Patayamatebele villages.
“Matsiloje” enters the record as village in Botswana. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Matsiloje, village and Botswana can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Matsiloje” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Matsiloje, village and Botswana provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q170950. Authority coordinates are -21.302, 27.884. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2002 and 2008.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Matsiloje”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Matsiloje primary sources, Matsiloje archive and Matsiloje research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Matsiloje”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Matsiloje” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.