A study says the origin of humans is in Botswana. Researchers said they used DNA to find out where modern humans came from. They believe all our roots are in a region of northern Botswana. Humans were there 200,000 years ago. They lived there for at least 70,000 years and then moved around the African continent. They then started migrating to Europe and Asia. Researcher Professor Vanessa Hayes, from the University of Sydney, said: "We've known for a long time that modern humans originated in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago."
The researchers pinpointed an area called Okavango as where we come from. There used to be a big lake there but it is now salt flats. People had water, hunting and farmland. Scientists analyzed DNA from 200 people who live near the area today. They are from the Khoisan people, who live in modern-day South Africa and Namibia. They had a lot of DNA called L0. Professor Hayes explained why L0 is important. She said: "Every time a new migration occurs, that migration event is recorded in our [L0 and] DNA as a time-stamp.... Everyone walking around today...comes from this region."