Orapa, mining town, east-central Botswana. It is located about 240 miles (385 km) north of Gaborone, the national capital. Situated on the eastern edge of the Kalahari (desert), the town was built to accommodate mine workers after the discovery in 1967 of a large diamond field, or pipe (a roughly cylindrical diamond-bearing geological formation), with a surface area of 277 acres (112 hectares); it is one of the largest such formations known. The diamond mine came into operation in 1971; it is operated by Debswana, a company owned equally by the government of Botswana and De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. of South Africa. Pop. (2001) 9,151; (2011) 9,531.