Gina Brandt, age 15, of Nogales, Ariz., for her question:

WHO ARE THE SAN?

San is the name of an ethnic group living mainly in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana and Namibia. In the past, the San have been called Bushmen by southern African whites.

The San are generally short in stature, averaging about five feet in height. They have a yellow brown skin color and exhibit a rather flat facial profile. They speak Xhosian languages characterized by click sounds.

About half of the approximately 50,000 San still live in the traditional manner, as hunter gatherers organized in small groups, or bands, of about 10 families. Each group has exclusive rights to an area of about 300 square miles and during most of the year the band moves around its rather desolate territory as a unit, changing homesites about once a month as the food supply is exhausted.

Each band of San is led by a hereditary headman with limited power. Groups are not politically linked, but individuals are linked by an intricate web of kinship.

In the 20th century many San took up a settled existence, mostly as farm laborers, and as a result much of their cultural heritage has been altered.