The world's largest diamond mine by area is the Orapa diamond mine in Botswana, one of four major diamond mines owned by Debswana in Botswana. The Orapa mine opened in 1971, just 5 years after Botswana gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966.

Did the U.K. know about Botswana's abundant and untapped diamond reserves prior to granting it independence? If they did know, did the U.K. not want a 'slice of the pie'? If they did not know, how likely would the U.K. be to grant Botswana independence had they got word of the diamonds?