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Reference.org
Ottoshoop
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<p>Ottoshoop is one of the small towns in the <a href="/facts/Mahikeng_Local_Municipality/fwNXxCNq">Mahikeng Local Municipality</a> in the <a href="/facts/North_West_Province/IPXarTnn">North West Province</a> of <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a>, situated 20km from the city of <a href="/facts/Mahikeng/9vP7vSwB">Mahikeng</a> on the way to the town of <a href="/facts/Zeerust/W6xb11Pn">Zeerust</a>. Residents serve the scanty needs of a few locals, underwater divers and railway users. During the town's boom years from 1879 to 1880, Ottoshoop was, however, the commercial capital of South Africa. This spirit of the town still lives on in today's commercial capital of Africa – <a href="/facts/Johannesburg/DQd9T8FY">Johannesburg</a>. Before the Europeans' arrival in mid-1800, the area was populated by the baRalong tribe, who built extensive walls to steer game into traps. </p>