The two most important geographical features in Botswana are the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert.
Botswana is divided into 10 districts:
People from Botswana are called "Batswana". The population of Botswana is about 2.2 million. This is only 2.7 persons per km², a small number for a country of this size. This is because most of the country is desert and very dry.
Botswana has two official languages: Setswana and English. Setswana is the national language (also called "Tswana").
Botswana is a democracy. The people vote for their political leaders. Those leaders vote for the president. In 2008 Ian Khama became the fourth president of Botswana.
President Khama won elections in 2009 and 2014. The current President of Botswana is Dr. Eric K. Mokgweetsi who took over from Dr. Ian Khama Seretse Khama in 2018.
The economy of Botswana has been growing very fast since it became an independent country in 1966. The people of Botswana have had the world's fastest growth in standard of living since that time.
Botswana's economy comes mostly from mining. This includes diamonds, metals (including copper) and minerals (including salt). Botswana is the highest producer of diamonds by value in the world. In 1999, Botswana produced over 30 million carats (6,000 kg) of diamonds from the three Debswana mines. That is about 25% of worldwide production.
Tourism is also important to the country. Many people come to Botswana each year to see its wildlife.
The currency of Botswana is called the "pula" (which means rain). It is made up of 100 "thebe" (which means shield). In 2017, one US dollar was about 10.32 pulas.
The "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" books by Alexander McCall Smith are set in Botswana. The HBO television series based on the books was filmed in Botswana.
Ferry
Ferry is a boat or ship that is used to take people, vehicles or goods across large bodies of water, such as seas, lakes and rivers.
In many places around the world, ferries are very important for public transport. Some of these places can only be reached by ferry, because they have no roads or railways with bridge or tunnels that join them to nearby places, nor do they have any locations at which to land airplanes, whether it is an airport or only an airfield.
Sometimes the trip in a ferry is free and sometimes it must be paid for. Many ferries also carry cars, some even have own rail tracks, allowing the ferry to carry trains on board.
The word 'ferry' can also mean 'to take someone or something by ferry'.
The Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, in which 193 people died near Zeebrugge in 1987, was one of the worst ferry accidents of recent times. It was caused by a crew member forgetting to close the bow doors of the ferry.
Rapa
Rapa or Oparo is an island in French Polynesia. It is sometimes called Rapa Iti to distinguish it from Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
The first European, who visited the island, was the captain George Vancouver. He visited the island in 1791. The island had an estimated population of about 2000 inhabitants. Four tribes inhabited the island. There were many tribal wars on the island.
The Rapan people were converted to Christianity in 1826, when six embassadors were sent from Tahiti. Soon after that some slaves were brought to Rapa. It caused an epidemy and in 1867 the island's population had declined to about 120. Since late 1800s, the island's population has steadily grown.
The main village of Rapa is Haurei. Nearly all inhabitants of Rapa are living in Haurei. The Bay of Haurei, which is on the western end of the island, is named after the village. The bay's original name was, however, "Oparo" or "Paro". Smaller villages include 'Area.
Rapa's nearest inhabited neighbor island is more than five hundred kilometers away. Together with Marotiri and some smaller islets, Rapa forms the Bass Islands. Marotiri is 46 miles away from Rapa.
To the southeast is the uninhabited islet Motu Tauturu.
Many mountains are in Rapa. The highest of them is Mt. Perau (650 m). Rapa has a land area of forty km².
Rapa is 1240 kilometers away from Tahiti, the main island of French Polynesia.
Most inhabitants of Rapa are Polynesians. Polynesians are believed to inhabit the island in about 1000 BC.
Rapa has a population of 521 inhabitants (1996). Most of them are fishermen. The most spoken language of the island is Rapan. Most children and youth can also speak French.
Rapan is however an endangered language. It is sometimes considered to be a dialect of Tubuaian.
The most common form of Rapan folk music is himene tarava. The band The Tahitian Choir is from Rapa and its songs are sung in the Rapan language.
Jo Whiley
Johanne "Jo" Whiley (born 4 July, 1965 in Northampton) is an English radio DJ on BBC Radio 1, and television presenter. She had a weekday lunchtime show, called "The Jo Whiley Show" and later "The Lunchtime Social". When Simon Mayo left Radio 1 for Radio Five Live in February 2001, Whiley's show was moved to mid-morning.
In July 2009, Whiley published her autobiography, "My World in Motion", on CD from Random House Audiobooks.
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is the 6th version of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Microsoft. It is the successor to Windows XP. While it was being made, it was called Longhorn. On July 28, 2005, Microsoft gave out its real name, which was Windows Vista. Microsoft stopped supporting Windows Vista on April 11, 2017.
Microsoft had worked on Vista for more than five years, so it came with many new features, such as improved graphics, new built-in programs, and stronger defenses against malware. However, Windows Vista introduced many changes to the way the operating system worked, which caused some older programs to stop working.
Vista was released in November 2006 for computer makers and January 30, 2007 for home users. The six main editions of Windows Vista are:
Some editions are meant for home use, while others are made mainly for businesses. Starter Edition is similar to Windows XP Starter Edition, as it is a low-budget edition that was only released in countries where computers were not as common. Enterprise Edition is for big companies that need computers that have good performance.
Windows Vista needs at least 512 MB of RAM to run on all computers. Some new parts of Vista need 1 GB of RAM to work and for better stability and performance.
At first, a major version of Windows code-named "Blackcomb" was planned as the successor to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Features planned for Blackcomb included the Sidebar, an emphasis on looking for data, and an advanced storage system named WinFS. However, a minor release code-named "Longhorn" was announced for 2003, delaying the making of Blackcomb. By the middle of 2003, Longhorn had gotten some of the features meant for Blackcomb. After three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time in 2003, Microsoft changed its development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while they made new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Development of Longhorn was reset in September 2004, and it was renamed to Windows Vista. A number of features were cut from Windows Vista as it was being remade.
After Windows Vista was released, Microsoft announced a new plan for the next version of Windows, code-named "Windows 7", in 2007.
Microsoft releases service packs to update software and fix problems to the operating system.