Botswana

Botswana (officially called the Republic of Botswana) is a country in southern Africa. The capital of Botswana is Gaborone.

 History 
The first people in Botswana's territory were the Khoe and San people. Botswana was first formed as the Bechuanaland Protectorate by the British Empire in 1885.

 Geography 

The countries that border Botswana are Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Namibia. It is also possible to travel from Botswana directly into Zambia by crossing the Zambezi River by ferry.

Botswana is landlocked. All of Botswana's trade must be brought in over land or by airplane.

The two most important geographical features in Botswana are the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert.

Divisions
Botswana is divided into 10 districts:
Southern District
South-East District
Kweneng District
Kgatleng District
Central District 
North-East District
Ngamiland District
Kgalagadi District 
Chobe District
Ghanzi District

 Culture 
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).

 Governance 
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.

 Economy 
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.  There has been an agreement with De Beers since 1969.  In 2023 a new agreement was made giving the country more of the diamonds - 30% in 2023, 40% from 2028 and 50% from 2033.

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.

In popular culture

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.

Gallery

Related pages
Botswana at the Olympics
Botswana national football team
List of rivers of Botswana

References

Other websites


 Botswana Newspapers 


Category:English-speaking countries
Category:1966 establishments in Africa
Category:Commonwealth member states