CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 1992 via the Libraries of the Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis
 
 Match 39   DB Rec# - 72,752  Dataset-WOFACT
 
Source        :CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 
Source key    :CI 
Program       :WORLD FACTBOOK 
Program key   :CI WOFACT 
Update sched. :Annually         
ID number     :CI WOFACT 033              
Title         :Vital Statistics - BOTSWANA 
Data type     :TEXT 
End year      :1993
Date of record:01/22/1993
Country       : 
| BOTSWANA 
Text          : 
BOTSWANA 
GEOGRAPHY 

 
Total area: 600,370 km2 
 
Land area: 585, 370 km2 
 
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas 
 
Land boundaries: 4,013 km; Namibia 1,360 km, South Africa 1,840 km, 
Zimbabwe 813 km 
 
Coastline: none - landlocked 
 
Maritime claims: none - landlocked 
 
Disputes: none 
 
Climate: semiarid; warm winters and hot summers 
 
Terrain: predominately flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert 
in southwest 
 
Natural resources: diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda, ash, potash, 
coal, iron ore, silver, natural gas 
 
Land use: urable land 2%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 75%; 
forest and woodland 2%; other 21%; includes irrigated NEGL% 
 
Environment: rains in early 1988 broke six years of drought that had 
severely affected the important cattle industry; overgazing; desertification 
 
Note: landlocked 
 
PEOPLE 
Population: 1,292,210 (July 1992), growth rate 2.6% (1992) 
 
Birth rate: 35 births/1,000 population (1992) 
 
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1992) 
 
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1992) 
 
Infant mortality rate: 42 deaths/1,000 live births (1992) 
 
Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 65 years female (1992) 
 
Total fertility rate: 4.4 children born/woman (1992) 
 
Nationality: noun and ajective - Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural) 
 
Ethnic divisions: Batswana 95%; Kalanga, Basarwa, and Kgalagadi about 
4%; white about 1% 
 
Religions: indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 50% 
 
Languages: English (official), Setswana 
 
Literacy: 23% (male 32%, female 16%) age 15 and over can read and write 
(1990 est.) 
 
Labor force: 400,000; 198,500 formal sector employees, most others are 
engaged in cattle raising and subsistence agriculture (1990 est.); 14,600 

 
are employed in various mines in South Africa (1990) 
 
Organized labor: 19 trade unions 
 
GOVERNMENT 
Long-form name: Republic of Botswana 
 
Type: parliamentary republic 
 
Capital: Gaborone 
 
Administrative divisions: 10 districts: Central, Chobe, Ghanzi, 
Kgalagadi, Kgatleng, Kweneng, Ngamiland, North-East, South-East, Southern; 
note - in addition, there may now be 4 town councils named Francistown, 
Gaborone, Lobaste Selebi-Pikwe 
 
Independence: 30 September 1966 (from UK; formerly Bechuanaland) 
 
Constitution: March 1965, effective 30 September 1966 
 
Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law and local customary law; judicial 
review limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ 
jurisdiction 
 
National holiday: Independence Day, 30 September (1966) 
 
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet 
 
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly consists of an upper 
house or House of Chiefs and a lower house or National Assembly 
 
Judicial branch: High Court, Court of Appeal 
 
Leaders: 
 
Chief of State and Head of Government: President Quett K. J. MASIRE 
(since 13 July 1980); Vice President Peter S.  MMUSI (since 3 January 1983) 
 
Political parties and leaders: Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Quett 
MASIRE; Botswana National Front (BNF), Kenneth KOMA; Boswana People's Party 
(BPP), Knight MARIPE; Botswana Independence Party (BIP), Motsamai MPHO 
 
Suffrage: universal at age 21 
 
National Assembly: last held 7 October 1989 (next to be held October 
1994); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (38 total, 34 elected) 
BDP 35, BNF 3 
 
President: last held 7 October 1989 (next to be held October 1994); 
results - President Quett K. J. MASIRE was reelected by the National 
Assembly 
 
Communists: no known Communist organization; Kenneth KOMA of BNF has 
long history of Communist contacts 
 
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, 
ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, SACU, 
SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO 
 
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Botsweletse Kingsley SEBELE; 

 
Chancery at Suite 7M, 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008; 
telephone (202) 244-4990 or 4991 
 
US: Ambassador Davie PASSAGE; Embassy at Gaborone (mailing address is P. 
O. Box 90, Gaborone); telephone  267  353-982; FAX  267  356-947 
 
Flag: light blue with a horizontal white-edged black stripe in the center 
 
ECONOMY 
Overview: The economy has historically been based on cattle raising and 
crops.  Agriculture today provides a livelihood for more than 80% of the 
population, but produces only about 50% of food needs. The driving force 
behind the rapid economic growth of the 1970s and 1980s has been the mining 
industry. This sector, mostly on the strength of diamonds, has gone from 
generating 25% of GDP in 1980 to over 50% in 1989. No other sector has 
experienced such growth, especially not agriculture, which is plagued by 
erratic rainfall and poor soils. The unemployment rate remains a problem at 
25%. Although diamond production remained level in FY91, substantial gains 
in coal output and manufacturing helped boost the economy 
 
GDP: purchasing power equivalent - $3.6 billion, per capita $2,800; real 
growth rate 6.3% (1991 est.) 
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.6% (1991) 
 
Unemployment rate: 25% (1989) 
 
Budget: revenues $1,935 million; expenditures $1,885 million, including 
capital expenditures of $658 million (FY93) 
 
Exports: $1.8 billion (f.o.b. 1990) 
 
commodities: diamonds 80%, copper and nickel 9%, meat 4%, cattle, animal 
products 
 
partners: Switzerland, UK, SACU (Southern African Customs Union) 
 
Imports: $1.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.) 
 
commodities: foodstuffs, vehicles and transport equipment, textiles, 
petroleum products 
 
partners: Switzerland, SACU (Southern African Customs Union), UK, US 
 
External debt: $780 million (December 1990 est.) 
 
Industrial production: growth rate 16.8% (FY86); accounts for about 57% 
of GDP, including mining 
 
Electricity: 220,000 kW capacity; 630 million kWh produced 858 kWh per 
capita (1991) 
 
Industries: mining of diamonds, copper, nickel, coal, salt, soda ash, 
potash; livestock processing 
 
Agriculture: accounts for only 3% of DGP; subsistence farming 
predominates; cattle raising supports 50% of the population; must import 
large share of food needs 
 
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $257 million; 

 
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), 
$1,875 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $43 million; Communist 
countries (1970-89), $29 million 
 
Currency: pula (plural - pula); 1 pula (P) = 100 thebe 
 
Exchange rates: pula (P) per US$1 - 2.1683 (March 1992), 2.0173 (1991), 
1.8601 (1990), 2.0125 (1989), 1.8159 (1988), 1.6779 (1987) 
 
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March 
 
COMMUNICATIONS 
Railroads: 712 km 1.067-meter gauge 
 
Highways: 11,514 km total; 1,600 km paved; 1,700 km crushed stone or 
gravel, 5,177 km improved earth, 3,037 km unimproved earth 
 
Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft 
 
Airports: 100 total, 87 unable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none 
with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 27 with runways 
1,220-2,439 m 
 
Telecommunications: the small system is a combination of open-wire 
lines, radio relay links, and a few radio-communications stations; 26,000 
telephones; broadcast stations - 7 AM, 13 FM, no TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT 
earth station 
 
DEFENSE FORCES 
Branches: Botswana Defense Force (including Army and Air Wing); Botswana 
National Police 
 
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 271,511; 142,947 fit for military 
service; 14,473 reach military age (18) annually 
 
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $136.4 million, 4.4% of 
GDP (FY92) 
 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
These files extracted from Dept. of Commerce's National Trade Databank (NTDB)
CD-ROM, SuDoc no. C 1.88:993/11 using software developed by RCM of the Univ.
of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries, 12/1/1993 :/ WF930038