Botswana

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Coordinates: 24°39.5′S 25°54.5′E
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Republic of Botswana
Lefatshe la
Botswana (Tswana)

Flag
 Coat of arms

Motto: Pula
"Let it Rain"

Anthem: Fatshe leno la rona

"Blessed Be This Noble Land"
Duration: 57 seconds.0:57

Show globe

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all

Capital Gaborone
and largest 24°39.5′S 25°54.5′E
city
 Official lan English[1]
guages

National Setswana[1]
language

Ethnic gro 79% Tswana

ups 11% Kalanga
3% San
(2024[2]) 7% others[a]
Religion
(2021) o 79.1% Christianity
 70.2%
Protestantism
 8.9%
other Christian
15.2% no religion
4.1% Badimo
1.4% others[b]
0.3% unspecified[3]
Demonym( Batswana (plural)
s) Motswana (singular)
[2]

Governme Unitary dominant-

nt party parliamentary
republic with an
executive presidency[4][5]
• President Mokgweetsi Masisi[6]
• Vice- Slumber Tsogwane
President
• National Phandu Skelemani
Assembly
 Speaker
Legislature Parliament
(National Assembly)
Independence
from the United Kingdom
• Established 30 September 1966
(Constitutio
n)
Area
• Total 581,730 km2 (224,610 s
q mi)[7] (47th)
• Water (%) 2.7
Population
• 2023 2,417,596[8] (145th)
estimate
• 2022[10][11] ce 2,359,609[9]
nsus
• Density 4.1/km2 (10.6/sq mi)
(231st)
GDP (PPP) 2024 estimate
• Total $54.647
billion[12] (124th)
• Per capita $20,158[12] (83rd)
GDP (nomi 2024 estimate
nal)
• Total $21.90
billion[12] (122nd)
• Per capita $7,859[12] (87th)
Gini (2016) 45.5[13][14]
 medium inequality
HDI (2022) 0.708[15]
high (114th)
Currency Pula (BWP)
Time zone UTC+2 (Central Africa
Time[16])
Date dd/mm/yyyy
format
Drives on left
Calling +267
code
ISO 3166 BW
code
Internet .bw
TLD
Website
www.gov.bw

Tswana[2]
Person Motswana

People Batswana

Language Setswana

Country Botswana
Botswana,[c] officially the Republic of Botswana,[d] is
a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is
topographically flat, with approximately 70 per cent of its
territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered
by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to
the west and north, Zambia to the north
and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Being a country of
slightly over 2.4 million people and roughly the size
of France, Botswana is one of the most sparsely
populated countries in the world. It is essentially the
nation-state of the Tswana people, who constitute 70 per
cent of the population.
The Tswana ethnic group are descended mainly
from Bantu-speaking peoples who migrated into
southern Africa, including modern Botswana, in several
waves before AD 600. In 1885, the British colonised the
area and declared a protectorate named Bechuanaland.
As decolonisation occurred, Bechuanaland became an
independent Commonwealth republic under its current
name on 30 September 1966. Since then, it has been
a parliamentary republic with a consistent record of
uninterrupted democratic elections, though as of 2024
the Botswana Democratic Party has been the ruling
party since independence. As of 2024, Botswana is the
third least corrupt country in Africa, according to
the Corruption Perceptions Index published
by Transparency International.
The economy is dominated by mining and tourism.
Botswana has a GDP (purchasing power parity) per
capita of about $20,158 as of 2024. Botswana is the
world's biggest diamond-producing country. Its relatively
high gross national income per capita (by some
estimates the fourth-largest in Africa) gives the country a
relatively high standard of living and the second-
highest Human Development Index of continental Sub-
Saharan Africa (after South Africa). Botswana is a
member of the Southern African Customs Union,
the Southern African Development Community,
the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations.
Etymology
The country's name means "Land of the Tswana",
referring to the dominant ethnic group in Botswana.
[18]
The Constitution of Botswana recognizes a
homogeneous Tswana state.[19] The term Batswana was
originally applied to the Tswana, which is still the case.
[20]
However, it has also come to be used generally as
a demonym for all citizens of Botswana.[21]
History
Main article: History of Botswana
Pre-history

The 'Two Rhino' painting at Tsodilo,

a UNESCO World Heritage Site
It is estimated that hominids lived in Botswana during
the Pleistocene.[22] Stone tools and animal remains
indicate that all areas of the country were inhabited at
least 400,000 years ago.[23]
It was claimed to have been the birthplace of all modern
humans from around 200,000 years ago.[24][25][26] Evidence
left by modern humans, such as cave paintings, is about
73,000 years old.[27] The earliest known inhabitants of
southern Africa are thought to have been the forebears
of present-day San ("Bushmen") and Khoi peoples. Both
groups speak click languages from the small Khoe-
Kwadi, Kx’a and Tuu families whose members hunted,
gathered, and traded over long distances. When cattle
were first introduced about 2000 years ago into southern
Africa, pastoralism became a major feature of the
economy since the region had large grasslands free
of tsetse flies.[28]

Domboshaba Ruins Stone Wall (top) and clay pottery

plate (bottom)
It is unclear when Bantu-speaking peoples first moved
into the country from the north, although AD 600 seems
to be a consensus estimate. In that era the ancestors of
the modern-day Kalanga moved into what is now the
north-eastern area of the country. These proto-Kalanga
were closely connected to states in Zimbabwe as well as
to the Mapungubwe state, and the notable of these
was Domboshaba ruins, a cultural and heritage site in
Botswana initially occupied towards the end of the Great
Zimbabwe period (1250–1450), with stone walls that
have an average height of 1.8 metres. The site is a
respected place for the people living in the region, and it
is believed that the chief lived on the top of the hill with
his helpers or assistants. These states, located outside
of current Botswana's borders, appear to have kept
massive herds of cattle in what is now the Central District
—apparently at numbers approaching modern cattle
density.[29] This massive cattle-raising complex prospered
until 1300 or so and seems to have regressed following
the collapse of Mapungubwe. During this era the first
Tswana-speaking groups, the Bakgalagadi, moved into
the southern areas of the Kalahari. All these various
peoples were connected to trade routes that ran via the
Limpopo River to the Indian Ocean, and trade goods
from Asia such as beads made their way to Botswana,
most likely in exchange for ivory, gold and rhinoceros
horn.[30]
Toutswemogala Hill Iron Age Settlement's radio-carbon
dates for this settlement range from the 7th to late 19th
century indicating occupation of more than one thousand
years.[31] The hill was part of the formation of early states
in Southern Africa with cattle keeping as a major source
of economy.[31] Toutswe settlement includes house-floors,
large heaps of vitrified cow dung and burials while the
outstanding structure is the stone wall.[32] Around 1000
AD, the Toutswe people moved into Botswana.[33]
However, agriculture also played a vital role in the
longevity of Toutswemogala Hill's extended occupation,
as many grain storage structures have also been found
on the site. Many different stratified layers of housing
floors further signal continuous occupation over
hundreds of years. The arrival of the ancestors of the
Tswana speakers who came to control the region has yet
to be dated precisely. Members of the Bakwena, a
chieftaincy under a leader named Kgabo II, made their
way into the southern Kalahari by AD 1500, at the latest,
and his people drove the Bakgalagadi inhabitants west
into the desert. Over the years, several offshoots of the
Bakwena moved into adjoining territories.
The Bangwaketse occupied areas to the west, while
the Bangwato moved northeast into formerly Kalanga
areas.[34] Not long afterwards, a Bangwato offshoot
known as the Batawana migrated into the Okavango
Delta, probably in the 1790s.[35]
Mfecane and Batswana-Boer Wars
Main article: Mfecane
 1905 German map of Southern
Africa, showing the still-undivided Bechuanaland area
The first written records relating to modern-day
Botswana appear in 1824. What these records show is
that the Bangwaketse had become the predominant
power in the region. Under the rule of Makaba II, the
Bangwaketse kept vast herds of cattle in well-protected
desert areas, and used their military prowess to raid their
neighbours.[36] Other chiefdoms in the area, by this time,
had capitals of 10,000 or so and were fairly prosperous.
[37]
This equilibrium came to end during
the Mfecane period, 1823–1843, when a succession of
invading peoples from South Africa entered the country.
Although the Bangwaketse were able to defeat the
invading Bakololo in 1826, over time all the major
chiefdoms in Botswana were attacked, weakened, and
impoverished. The Bakololo and AmaNdebele raided
repeatedly and took large numbers of cattle, women, and
children from the Batswana—most of whom were driven
into the desert or sanctuary areas such as hilltops and
caves. Only after 1843, when the Amandebele moved
into western Zimbabwe, did this threat subside.[38]
 Sechele I, who led a Batswana Merafe
Coalition against Boers in 1852
During the 1840s and 1850s trade with Cape Colony-
based merchants opened up and enabled
the Batswana chiefdoms to rebuild. The Bakwena,
Bangwaketse, Bangwato and Batawana cooperated to
control the lucrative ivory trade and then used the
proceeds to import horses and guns, which in turn
enabled them to establish control over what is now
Botswana. This process was largely complete by 1880,
and thus the Bushmen, the Kalanga, the Bakgalagadi,
and other current minorities were subjugated by the
Batswana.[39]
Following the Great Trek, Afrikaners from the Cape
Colony established themselves on the borders of
Botswana in the Transvaal. In 1852 a coalition
of Tswana chiefdoms led by Sechele I defeated
Afrikaner incursions at the Battle of Dimawe and, after
about eight years of intermittent tensions and hostilities,
eventually came to a peace agreement in Potchefstroom
in 1860. From that point on, the modern-day border
between South Africa and Botswana was agreed on, and
the Afrikaners and Batswana traded and worked
together comparatively peacefully.[40][41]
In 1884, Batawana, a northern-based Tswana clan's
cavalry under the command of Kgosi Moremi, fought and
defeated the Ndebele's invasion of northern Botswana at
the Battle of Khutiyabasadi. This is the start of the
collapse of the Ndebele Kingdom in Zimbabwe and
helped the Tswana speaking authority.[42]
Due to newly peaceful conditions, trade thrived between
1860 and 1880. Taking advantage of this were
Christian missionaries. The Lutherans and the London
Missionary Society both became established in the
country by 1856. By 1880, every major village had a
resident missionary, and their influence slowly became
felt. Khama III (reigned 1875–1923) was the first of the
Tswana chiefs to make Christianity a state religion and
changed a great deal of Tswana customary law as a
result. Christianity became the de facto official religion in
all the chiefdoms by World War I.[43]
Colonialism
Main article: Bechuanaland Protectorate

The Three Dikgosi

Monument of Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I, who
negotiated a protectorate
During the Scramble for Africa, the territory of Botswana
was coveted by both the German Empire and Britain.
During the Berlin Conference, Britain decided to annex
Botswana in order to safeguard the Road to the North
and thus connect the Cape Colony to its territories
further north. It unilaterally annexed Tswana territories in
January 1885 and then sent the Warren Expedition north
to consolidate control over the area and convince the
chiefs to accept British overrule. Despite their misgivings,
they eventually acquiesced to this fait accompli.[44][45]
In 1890, areas north of 22 degrees were added to the
new Bechuanaland Protectorate. During the 1890s, the
new territory was divided into eight different reserves,
with fairly small amounts of land being left as freehold for
white settlers. During the early 1890s, the British
government decided to hand over the Bechuanaland
Protectorate to the British South Africa Company. This
plan, which was well on its way to fruition despite the
entreaties of Tswana leaders who toured England in
protest, was eventually foiled by the failure of
the Jameson Raid in January 1896.[46][47]

Postage stamp of British-

ruled Bechuanaland from 1960
When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 from
the main British colonies in the region, the High
Commission Territories—the Bechuanaland
Protectorate, Basutoland (now Lesotho),
and Swaziland (now Eswatini)—were not included, but
provision was made for their later incorporation.
However, the UK began to consult with their inhabitants
as to their wishes. Although successive South African
governments sought to have the territories transferred to
their jurisdiction, the UK kept delaying; consequently, it
never occurred. The election of
the Nationalist government in 1948, which
instituted apartheid, and South Africa's withdrawal from
the Commonwealth in 1961, ended any prospect of the
UK or these territories agreeing to incorporation into
South Africa.[48]
An expansion of British central authority and the
evolution of native government resulted in the 1920
establishment of two advisory councils to represent both
Africans and Europeans.[49] The African Council consisted
of the eight heads of the Tswana tribes and some
elected members.[49] Proclamations in 1934 regulated
tribal rule and powers. A European-African advisory
council was formed in 1951, and the 1961 constitution
established a consultative legislative council.[50]
 Seretse Khama (right) and Quett
Masire (left) at independence talks in London, 1965
Independence
In June 1964, the United Kingdom accepted proposals
for a democratic self-government in Botswana. An
independence conference was held in London in
February 1966.[51] The seat of government was moved in
1965 from Mahikeng in South Africa, to the newly
established Gaborone, which is located near Botswana's
border with South Africa. Based on the 1965 constitution,
the country held its first general elections under universal
suffrage and gained independence on 30 September
1966.[52] Seretse Khama, a leader in the independence
movement,[53] was elected as the first president, and
subsequently re-elected twice.[54]
Khama died in office in 1980. The presidency passed to
the sitting vice-president, Quett Masire, who was elected
in his own right in 1984 and re-elected in 1989 and 1994.
Masire retired from office in 1998. He was succeeded
by Festus Mogae, who was elected in his own right in
1999 and re-elected in 2004. The presidency passed in
2008 to Ian Khama (son of the first president), who had
been serving as Mogae's vice-president since resigning
his position in 1998 as Commander of the Botswana
Defence Force to take up this civilian role. On 1 April
2018, Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi was sworn in
as the fifth president of Botswana, succeeding Ian
Khama. He represents the Botswana Democratic Party,
which has also won a majority in every parliamentary
election since independence. All the previous presidents
have also represented the same party.[55] A long-running
dispute over the northern border with Namibia's Caprivi
Strip was the subject of a ruling by the International
Court of Justice in December 1999. It ruled that Kasikili
Island belongs to Botswana.[56]
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Botswana, Climate of
Botswana, and Climate Change in Botswana

Botswana map of Köppen climate

classification
At 581,730 km2 (224,607 sq mi), Botswana is the world's
48th-largest country.[57] It also has a mean altitude of
roughly 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level.[58]
[59]
Botswana is predominantly flat, tending towards gently
rolling tableland.[60] Botswana is dominated by
the Kalahari Desert, which covers up to 70% of its land
surface.[61]
 The Okavango Delta
The Limpopo River Basin, the major landform of all of
southern Africa, lies partly in Botswana, with the basins
of its tributaries,
the Notwane, Bonwapitse, Mahalapye, Lotsane, Motlouts
e and the Shashe, located in the eastern part of the
country.[62] The Notwane provides water to the capital
through the Gaborone Dam.[63] The Chobe River meets
with the Zambezi River at a place called Kazungula.[64]
Biodiversity and conservation
Main article: Wildlife of Botswana
Zebras roaming the Okavango Basin
Botswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat.[65] In
addition to the delta and desert areas, there
are grasslands and savannas.[65] Northern Botswana has
one of the few remaining large populations of the
endangered African wild dog.[66] Chobe National Park in
the Chobe District has the world's largest concentration
of African elephants. The park covers about
11,000 km2 (4,247 sq mi) and supports about 350
species of birds.[67]
The Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve (in
the Okavango Delta) are major tourist destinations.
[68]
Other reserves include the Central Kalahari Game
Reserve located in the Kalahari Desert in Ghanzi
District; Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and Nxai Pan
National Park are in Central District in the Makgadikgadi
Pan.[69]
Botswana faces two
major environmental problems, drought and desertificatio
n, which are heavily linked. Three-quarters of the
country's human and animal populations depend on
groundwater due to drought. Groundwater use through
deep borehole drilling has somewhat eased the effects
of drought. Surface water is scarce in Botswana and less
than 5% of the agriculture in the country is sustainable
by rainfall. In the remaining 95% of the country, raising
livestock is the primary source of rural income.
Approximately 71% of the country's land is used for
communal grazing, which has been a major cause of the
desertification and the accelerating soil erosion of the
country.[70]
Since raising livestock has been profitable for the people
of Botswana, they continue to exploit the land with
dramatically increasing numbers of animals. From 1966
to 1991, the livestock population grew from 1.7 million to
5.5 million.[70] Similarly, the human population has
increased from 574,000 in 1971 to 1.5 million in 1995, a
161% increase in 24 years.[71] Environmentalists report
that the Okavango Delta is drying up due to the
increased grazing of livestock.[72] The Okavango Delta is
one of the major semi-forested wetlands in Botswana
and one of the largest inland deltas in the world; it is a
crucial ecosystem to the survival of many animals.[72]
The Department of Forestry and Range Resources has
already begun to implement a project to reintroduce
indigenous vegetation into communities in Kgalagadi
South, Kweneng North and Boteti.[73] Reintroduction of
indigenous vegetation will help reduce the degradation of
the land. The United States Government has also
entered into an agreement with Botswana, giving them
US$7 million to reduce Botswana's debt by US$8.3
million. The stipulation of the US reducing Botswana's
debt is that Botswana will focus on more
extensive conservation of the land.[72] The country had a
2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of
9.13/10, ranking it 8th globally out of 172 countries.[74]
The United Nations Development Programme claims that
poverty is a major problem behind the overexploitation of
resources, including land, in Botswana. The UNDP
joined in with a project started in the southern community
of Struizendam in Botswana. The purpose of the project
is to draw from "indigenous knowledge and traditional
land management systems". The leaders of this
movement are supposed to be the people in the
community to draw them in, in turn increasing their
possibilities to earn an income and thus decreasing
poverty. The UNDP also stated that the government has
to effectively implement policies to allow people to
manage their own local resources and are giving the
government information to help with policy development.
[75]

Government and politics

Main articles: Politics of Botswana and Government of
Botswana

Mokgweetsi Masisi has been

the President of Botswana since 2019.
Botswana is a parliamentary republic governed by
the Constitution of Botswana,[76] and it is the longest
uninterrupted democracy in Africa.[77] Its seat of
government is in Gaborone.[78] Botswana's governing
institutions were established after it became an
independent nation in 1966. Botswana's governmental
structure is based on both the Westminster system of the
United Kingdom and the tribal governments of the
Tswana people.[76] Botswana has a centralized
government in which national law supersedes local law.
[79]
Local laws are developed by local councils and district
councils.[80] They are heavily influenced by tribal
governments, which are led by the tribe's chief.[80]
The Parliament of Botswana consists of the President
and the National Assembly, which serves as the nation's
formal and sole legislature. Whilst the Ntlo ya
Dikgosi serves an advisory body made up of tribal chiefs
and other appointed members.[81] Botswana's executive
branch is led by the President of Botswana, who serves
as both the head of state and head of government.[76] The
members of parliament choose the president,[82] and the
president then appoints the Vice-President and the
members of the Cabinet.[83] The president has significant
power in Botswana, and the legislature has little power
to check the president once appointed.[82][84] The judiciary
includes the High Court of Botswana, the Court of
Appeal, and Magistrates' Courts.[85] Cases are often
settled by customary courts with tribal chiefs presiding.[80]
Elections in Botswana are held every five years and
overseen by the Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC).[86] Botswana operates a multi-party
system in which many political parties compete in
elections,[77] but it is effectually a dominant-party state in
which the Botswana Democratic Party has ruled with a
majority government since independence.[87][88] The
nation's elections are recognized as free and fair, but the
ruling party has institutional advantages that other
parties do not.[86][89] Factionalism is common within
Botswana's political parties, and several groups have
formed new parties by splitting from established ones.
[77]
Since 2019, the Umbrella for Democratic Change has
operated as a coalition of opposition parties.[90] The most
recent election was held in 2019, with the Botswana
Democratic Party maintaining its majority
and Mokgweetsi Masisi being re-elected president.[91]
In Botswana's early years, its politics were managed by
President Seretse Khama and Vice-President (later
president) Quett Masire.[92] Since the Kgabo
Commission in 1991, factionalism and political rivalries
have dominated Botswana politics. The Barata-
Phathi faction was led by Peter Mmusi, Daniel
Kwelagobe, and Ponatshego Kedikilwe, while the A
Team faction was led by Mompati Merafhe and Jacob
Nkate.[93][94] When Festus Mogae and Ian Khama became
president and vice-president, respectively, they aligned
with the A Team. Khama effectively expelled the A Team
from the party in 2010 after he became president.[94] A
new rivalry formed in 2018 when Khama's chosen
successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, became president. He
opposed Khama, and the two formed a political rivalry
that looms over Batswana politics in the 2020s.[95]
Botswana was ranked as a "flawed democracy" and 33rd
out of 167 states in the 2023 Democracy Index (The
Economist), which was the second highest rating in
Africa, and highest ranking in continental Africa (only the
offshore island nation of Mauritius bested its ranking).
[96]
However, according to the 2024 V-Dem Democracy
Indices, Botswana has been experiencing an episode
of democratic backsliding over the past ten years,
recording its lowest ever score on the indices. The
indices classify Botswana as an electoral democracy in a
'grey zone' between electoral democracy and electoral
autocracy. Furthermore, they show that Botswana lost its
status as a "liberal democracy" in 2021, with its liberal,
participatory, and deliberative components decreasing
"at a statistically significant level," with the latter
component being noted as becoming "significantly
worse."[97]
The 2023 Transparency International Corruption
Index ranks Botswana is the third least corrupt country in
Africa and ranks just below Cabo Verde and the
Seychelles.[98] Botswana is also a member of
the Commonwealth of Nations.[99]
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of
Botswana and Botswana Defence Force

Botswana soldiers board

a Botswana Defence Force plane to Mozambique in July
2021.
At the time of independence, Botswana had no armed
forces. It was only after the Rhodesian and South African
armies attacked the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary
Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe[100] bases respectively that
the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was formed in 1977.
[101]
The president is commander-in-chief of the armed
forces and appoints a defence council. In 2019,
Botswana signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of
Nuclear Weapons.[102]
Following political changes in South Africa and the
region, the BDF's missions have increasingly focused on
prevention of poaching, preparing for disasters, and
foreign peacekeeping. The United States has been the
largest single foreign contributor to the development of
the BDF, and a large segment of its officer corps have
received U.S. training. The Botswana government gave
the United States permission to explore the possibility of
establishing an Africa Command (AFRICOM) base in the
country.[103]
Botswana is the 50th most peaceful country in the world,
according to the 2024 Global Peace Index.[104]
Human rights
Main article: Human rights in Botswana
The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Ditshwanelo,
was established in 1993.[105] Until June 2019, homosexual
acts were illegal in Botswana. A Botswana High Court
decision of 11 June of that year struck down provisions
in the Criminal Code that punished "carnal knowledge of
any person against the order of nature" and "acts of
gross indecency", making Botswana one of 22 African
countries that have
either decriminalised or legalised homosexual acts.
[106]
Capital punishment is a legal penalty for murder in
Botswana, and executions are carried out by hanging.[107]
 San hunter
San and other indigenous tribes

Many of the indigenous San people have been forcibly

relocated from their land to reservations. To make them
relocate, they were denied access to water on their land
and faced arrest if they hunted, which was their primary
source of food.[108] Their lands lie in the middle of the
world's richest diamond field. Officially, the government
denies that there is any link to mining and claims the
relocation is to preserve the wildlife and ecosystem, even
though the San people have lived sustainably on the
land for millennia.[108] On the reservations, they struggle to
find employment, and alcoholism is rampant.[108]
On 24 August 2018, the UN Special Rapporteur on
Minorities, Fernand de Varennes, issued a statement
calling on Botswana "to step up efforts to recognise and
protect the rights of minorities in relation to public
services, land and resource use, and the use of minority
languages in education and other critical areas."[109]
Administrative divisions
Main articles: Districts of Botswana and Sub-districts of
Botswana

Districts of Botswana in 1977

Districts and subdistricts of

Botswana
Botswana is divided into 10 administrative districts, two
city districts, four towns,[110] 11 sub districts, and in total,
16 administrative divisions.[110] They are Central, Chobe,
Francistown, Gaborone, Ghanzi, Jwaneng, Kgalagadi,
Kgatleng, Kweneng, Lobatse, North East, North West,
South East, Southern, Selibe Phikwe and Sowa Town.
[110]
These are administered by 16 local authorities (district
councils, city councils or town councils).[111][112]
In 1977, Botswana's administrative divisions were
Ngamiland, Chobe, Francistown, Ngwato, Tuli, Ghanzi,
Kgalagadi, Ngwaketse, Kweneng, Gaborone, and
Lobatse.[113] In 2006, Chobe was removed from being an
administrative division, and Ngamiland's name was
changed to North West district. Chobe was readded on
31 March 2014. That same day, the administrative
divisions Francistown, Gaborone, Jwaneng, Lobatse,
Selibe Phikwe, and Sowa Town were all added.[110]
Economy
Main article: Economy of Botswana

GDP per capita of Botswana, 1950

to 2018
Since independence, Botswana has had one of the
fastest growth rates in per capita income in the world.
[114]
Formerly one of the world's poorest countries—with a
GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late
1960s,[115] Botswana has transformed itself into an upper
middle-income country. GDP per capita grew from $439
in 1950 to $15,842 in 2018.[116] Although Botswana was
resource-abundant, a good institutional framework
allowed the country to reinvest resource-income in order
to generate stable future income.[117] By one estimate, it
has the fourth highest gross national
income at purchasing power parity in Africa, giving it a
relatively high standard of living in Africa, around that of
Mexico.[118]
The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Botswana is
responsible for promoting business
development throughout the country. According to
the International Monetary Fund, economic growth
averaged over 9% per year from 1966 to 1999.
Botswana has a high level of economic
freedom compared to other African countries.[119] The
government has maintained a sound fiscal policy,
despite consecutive budget deficits in 2002 and 2003,
and a negligible level of foreign debt. It earned the
highest sovereign credit rating in Africa and has
stockpiled foreign exchange reserves (over $7 billion in
2005/2006) amounting to almost two and a half years of
current imports.[120]
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary,
and the government respects this in practice. The legal
system is sufficient to conduct secure commercial
dealings, although a growing backlog of cases prevents
timely trials. Botswana is ranked second only to South
Africa among sub-Saharan African countries in the 2014
International Property Rights Index.[121]
Gemstones and precious metals
Main article: Mining industry of Botswana
 The Jwaneng diamond mine, richest
in the world[122]
In Botswana, the Department of Mines and Mineral
Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security
maintains data regarding mining throughout the country.
[123][124]
Debswana, the largest diamond mining company
operating in Botswana, is a joint venture, 50% owned by
the government.[125]
The mineral industry provides about 40% of all
government revenues.[126] Uranium mining has not started
in Botswana, however the Letlhakane Uranium Project in
Africa is one of the largest undeveloped uranium
projects.[127] The government announced in early 2009
that they would try to diversify their economy and
overreliance on diamonds.[128]
Tourism
Main article: Tourism in Botswana
The Botswana Tourism Organisation is the country's
official tourism group.[129] Other destinations in Botswana
include the Gaborone Yacht Club and the Kalahari
Fishing Club; it has natural attractions such as the
Gaborone Dam and Mokolodi Nature Reserve. There
are golf courses that are maintained by the Botswana
Golf Union (BGU).[130] In 2014, the Okavango Delta of
Botswana, the largest inland delta in the world, was
inscribed as the 1,000th World Heritage Site.[131]
Infrastructure

Air Botswana (top) and Thapama Interchange (bottom)

Botswana has 971 kilometres (603 mi) of railway lines,
18,443.8 kilometres (11,460.4 mi) of roads, and 92
airports, of which 12 have paved runways. 7,383.2
kilometres (4,587.7 mi) of these roads are paved, with
the other 11,060.6 kilometres (6,872.7 mi) being
unpaved.[132] The national airline is Air Botswana, which
flies domestically to other countries in Africa. Botswana
Railways is the national railway company operating
primarily in the Southern African regional railway system.
Botswana Railways offers rail-based transport facilities
for moving a range of commodities for the mining sector
and primary industries, as well as passenger train
services and dry ports.[133][134]
In terms of power infrastructure in Botswana, the country
produces coal for electricity and oil is imported into the
country. Recently, the country has taken a large interest
in renewable energy sources and has completed a
comprehensive strategy that will attract investors in the
wind, solar and biomass renewable energy industries.
Botswana's power stations include Morupule B Power
Station (600 MW), Morupule A Power
Station (132 MW), Orapa Power
Station (90 MW), Phakalane Power Station (1.3 MW)
and Mmamabula Power Station (300 MW), which is
expected to be online in the near future. A 200 MW solar
power plant is at the planning and design stage by
Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and
Energy Security.[135][136]
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Botswana
As of 2024, the Tswana are the majority ethnic group in
Botswana, making up approximately 79% of the
population, followed by Kalanga at 11% and the San
(Basarwa) at 3%. The remaining 7% is made up of White
Batswana/European Batswana,[137] Indians,[2] and a
number of other smaller Southern African ethnic groups.
Native groups include the Bayei, Bambukushu, Basubia,
Baherero and Bakgalagadi. The Indian minority is made
up of both recent migrants and descendants of Indian
migrants who arrived
from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and Sout
h Africa.[138]
 Population pyramid of Botswana,
2016
Since 2000, because of deteriorating economic
conditions in Zimbabwe, the number of Zimbabweans in
Botswana has risen into the tens of thousands.[139] Fewer
than 10,000 San people are still living their
traditional hunter-gatherer way of life. Since the mid-
1990s the central government of Botswana has been
trying to move San out of their historic lands, with the
main reason possibly being that they live on a diamond-
rich region.[140]
James Anaya, as the Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights and fundamental freedoms of
indigenous people for the United Nations in 2010,
described loss of land as a major contributor to many of
the problems facing Botswana's indigenous people,
citing the San's eviction from the Central Kalahari Game
Reserve (CKGR)[141] as a special example.[142]: 2 Among
Anaya's recommendations in a report to the United
Nations Human Rights Council was that development
programs should promote, in consultation with
indigenous communities such as the San and
Bakgalagadi people, activities in harmony with the
culture of those communities such as traditional hunting
and gathering activities.[142]: 19
 Largest cities or to
Census Botsw
Rank Name District Pop.
1 Gaborone South-East 246,32
2 Francistown North-East 103,41
3 Mogoditshane Kweneng 88,00
4 Maun North-West 84,99
Gaborone 5 Molepolole Kweneng 74,67
6 Serowe Central 55,67
7 Tlokweng South-East 55,50
8 Palapye Central 52,63
Francistown 9 Mochudi Kgatleng 50,31
10 Mahalapye Central 48,43
Languages
Main articles: Languages of Botswana and Setswana
The official language of Botswana is English,
while Setswana is widely spoken across the country.[1] In
Setswana, prefixes are more important than they are in
many other languages, since Setswana is a Bantu
language and has noun classes denoted by these
prefixes. They include Bo, which refers to the
country, Ba, which refers to the people, Mo, which is one
person, and Se which is the language. For example, the
main ethnic group of Botswana is the Tswana people,
hence the name Botswana for its country. The people as
a whole are Batswana, one person is a Motswana, and
the language they speak is Setswana.[144][145]
Other languages spoken in Botswana
include Kalanga (Sekalanga), Sarwa (Sesarwa), Ndebel
e, Kgalagadi, Tswapong, !Xóõ, Yeyi, and, in some
parts, Afrikaans.[146]
Religion
Main article: Religion in Botswana
Religion in Botswana (Pew Research)[147]
Religion Per cent
Protestant 66%
No religion 20%
Catholic 7%
Folk 6%
Other 1%
An estimated 77% of the country's citizens identify
as Christians. Anglicans, Methodists, and the United
Congregational Church of Southern Africa make up the
majority of Christians. There are also congregations
of Lutherans, Baptists, Roman Catholics, The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Dutch Reformed
Church, Mennonites, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's
Witnesses and Serbian Orthodox in the country.
According to the 2001 census, the nation has around
5,000 Muslims (mainly from South Asia), 3,000 Hindus,
and 700 of the Baháʼí Faith. Approximately 20% of
citizens identify with no religion.[147]
Health
Botswana's healthcare system has been steadily
improving and expanding,[148] specifically in the fact that
the infant mortality and maternal mortality rates are
steadily declining.[149] 85 per cent of the population live
within a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) radius of a health facility.
73 per cent of pregnant women access antenal care
services at least four times. Almost 100 per cent of births
in Botswana take place in hospitals.[148]

Scottish Livingstone
Hospital in Molepolole
The Ministry of Health[150] in Botswana is responsible for
overseeing the quality and distribution
of healthcare throughout the country. Life expectancy at
birth was 55 in 2009 according to the World Bank, having
previously fallen from a peak of 64.1 in 1990 to a low of
49 in 2002.[151] After Botswana's 2011 census, current life
expectancy is estimated at 54.06 years.[2]
The Cancer Association of Botswana is a voluntary non-
governmental organisation. The association is a member
of the Union for International Cancer Control. The
Association supplements existing services through
provision of cancer prevention and health awareness
programs, facilitating access to health services for
cancer patients and offering support and counselling to
those affected.[152]
HIV/AIDS epidemic
Main article: HIV/AIDS in Botswana
 Life expectancy in select
Southern African countries, 1950–2019. HIV/AIDS has
caused a fall in life expectancy.
Like elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, the economic
impact of AIDS is considerable. Economic development
spending was cut by 10% in 2002–3 as a result of
recurring budget deficits and rising expenditure on
healthcare services. Botswana has been hit very hard by
the AIDS pandemic; in 2006, it was estimated that life
expectancy at birth had dropped from 65 to 35 years.
[153]
The life expectancy is 66.4 years as of 2024.[18]
In 2003, the government began a comprehensive
programme involving free or cheap
generic antiretroviral drugs as well as an information
campaign designed to stop the spread of the virus; in
2013, over 40% of adults in Botswana had access to
antiretroviral therapy.[154]: 28 In the age group of 15–19
years old, prevalence was estimated at 6% for females
and 3.5% for males in 2013,[154]: 33 and for the 20–24 age
group, 15% for females and 5% for males.[154]: 33 Botswana
is one of 21 priority countries identified by the UN AIDS
group in 2011 in the Global Plan to eliminate new HIV
infections among children and to keep their mothers
alive.[154]: 37 From 2009 to 2013, the country saw a
decrease over 50% in new HIV infections in children.[154]:
38
Less than 10% of pregnant HIV-infected women were
not receiving antiretroviral medications in 2013, with a
corresponding large decrease (over 50%) in the number
of new HIV infections in children under 5.[154]: 39, 40 Among
the UN Global Plan countries, people living with HIV in
Botswana have the highest per centage receiving
antiretroviral treatment: about 75% for adults (age 15+)
and about 98% for children.[154]: 237
With a nationwide Prevention of Mother-to-Child
Transmission program, Botswana has reduced HIV
transmission from infected mothers to their children from
about 40% in 2003 to 4% in 2010. Under the leadership
of Festus Mogae, the Government of Botswana solicited
outside help in curing people with HIV/AIDS and
received early support from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation and the Merck Foundation, which together
formed the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS
Partnership (ACHAP). Other early partners include
the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute of the Harvard
School of Public Health and the Botswana–UPenn
Partnership of the University of Pennsylvania. According
to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, universal access to
treatment—defined as 80% coverage or greater—has
been achieved in Botswana.[155]
The country has been adversely affected by
the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2002, Botswana became the
first country to offer anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to help
combat the epidemic.[156] Despite the launch of programs
to make treatment available and to educate the populace
about the epidemic,[157] the number of people
with AIDS rose from 290,000 in 2005 to 320,000 in 2013.
[154]: A20
However, in recent years the country has made
strides in combating HIV/AIDS, with efforts being made
to provide proper treatment and lower the rate of mother-
to-child transmission.[158][159]
Culture
Main article: Culture of Botswana

Folklore musician Sereetsi (top) and traditional basket (bottom)

Botswana's music is mostly vocal and performed,
sometimes without drums depending on the occasion; it
also makes heavy use of string instruments. Botswana
folk music has instruments such as setinkane (a sort of
miniature piano), segankure/segaba (a Motswana
version of the Chinese instrument erhu), moropa
(meropa for plural) and phala (a whistle used mostly
during celebrations). The hands are sometimes used as
musical instruments too, by either clapping them
together or against phathisi (goat skin turned inside out
wrapped around the calf area, only used by men) to
create music and rhythm. The national anthem is
"Fatshe leno la rona", which was written and composed
by Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete; it was adopted upon
independence in 1966.[160][161][162]
In the northern part of Botswana, women in the villages
of Etsha and Gumare are noted for their skill at crafting
baskets from mokola palm and local dyes. The baskets
are generally woven into three types: large, lidded
baskets used for storage, large, open baskets for
carrying objects on the head or for winnowing threshed
grain and smaller plates for winnowing pounded grain.
These baskets steadily use colour.[163]
The oldest paintings from both Botswana and South
Africa depict hunting, animal and human figures, and
were made by the Khoisan (Kung San/Bushmen) over
twenty thousand years ago within the Kalahari Desert.[164]
Cuisine
The national dish is seswaa, pounded meat made from
goat meat or beef, Segwapa dried, cured meat ranging
from beef to game meats, either fillets of meat cut into
strips following the grain of the muscle, or flat pieces
sliced across the grain. Botswana's cuisine shares some
characteristics with other cuisine of Southern Africa.[165]
Examples of Botswana food are: bogobe, pap (maize
porridge), boerewors, samp, Magwinya and mopane
worms. Bogobe is made by putting sorghum, maize or
millet flour into boiling water, stirring into a soft paste,
and cooking it slowly. A dish called ting is made when
the sorghum or maize is fermented, and milk and sugar
added. Without the milk and sugar, ting is sometimes
eaten with meat or vegetables as lunch or dinner.
Another way of making bogobe is to add sour milk and a
cooking melon (lerotse). This dish is called tophi by the
Kalanga tribe. Madila is a traditional fermented milk
product similar to yogurt or sour cream.[166]
Sports

Obed Itani Chilume Stadium

Football is the most popular sport in Botswana, with
qualification for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations being
the national team's highest achievement to date. Other
popular sports
are softball, cricket, tennis, rugby, badminton, handball,
golf, and track and field.[167][168] Botswana is an associate
member of the International Cricket Council. Botswana
became a member of The International Badminton
Federation and Africa Badminton Federation in 1991.
The Botswana Golf Union has an amateur golf league in
which golfers compete in tournaments and
championships. Botswana won the country's
first Olympic medal in 2012 when runner Nijel
Amos won silver in the 800 metres.
In 2011, Amantle Montsho became world champion in
the 400 metres and won Botswana's first athletics medal
at the world level. High jumper Kabelo Kgosiemang is a
three-time African champion, Isaac Makwala is a sprinter
who specialises in the 400 metres, he was the gold
medalist at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, Baboloki
Thebe was a silver medalist in the 200 metres at the
2014 Summer Youth Olympics and reached the semi-
finals at the 2014 World Junior Championships in
Athletics, and Ross Branch Ross, a motor-biker, holds
the number one plate in the South African Cross Country
Championship and has competed at the Dakar
Rally. Letsile Tebogo set the world junior record in
the 100 metres with a time of 9.94 at the 2022 World
Athletics Championships,[169] and as of 2024 holds the
100m and 200m world's third best time of 30.69
seconds.[170] On 7 August 2021, Botswana won the
bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the
Olympics in Tokyo. Botswana was the first African nation
to host the Netball World Youth Cup.[171][172] On 8 August,
2024, Letsile Tebogo won Botswana's first-ever Olympic
gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing in
first place in the men's 200m final, finishing with a time of
19.46 seconds.[173]
The card game bridge has a strong following; it was first
played in Botswana around 40 years ago, and it grew in
popularity during the 1980s. Many British expatriate
school teachers informally taught the game in
Botswana's secondary schools. The Botswana Bridge
Federation (BBF) was founded in 1988. Bridge has
remained popular and the BBF has over 800 members.
[174]
In 2007, the BBF invited the English Bridge Union to
host a week-long teaching programme in May 2008.[175]
Education
See also: Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research,
Science and Technology (Botswana)
Main article: Education in Botswana

Botswana Ministry of Education building

Botswana has made educational progress since
independence in 1966. In 1966, there were only 22
graduates in the country[176] and only a very small
percentage of the population attended secondary school.
Botswana increased its adult literacy rate from 69% in
1991 to 83% in 2008.[177] Among sub-Saharan African
countries, Botswana has one of the highest literacy
rates.[178] As of 2024, 88.5% of the population age 15 and
over could read and write and were respectively literate.
[178]

The Botswana Ministry of Education[179] is working to

establish libraries in primary schools in partnership with
the African Library Project.[180] The Government of
Botswana hopes that by investing a large part of national
income in education, the country will become less
dependent on diamonds for its economic survival, and
less dependent on expatriates for its skilled workers.
[181]
NPVET (National Policy on Vocational Education and
Training) introduced policies in favour of vocational
education.[181] Botswana invests 21% of its government
spending in education.[177]
In January 2006, Botswana announced the
reintroduction of school fees after two decades of free
state education,[182] though the government still provides
full scholarships with living expenses to any Botswana
citizen in university, either at the University of Botswana
or if the student wishes to pursue an education in any
field not offered locally, they are provided with a full
scholarship to study abroad.[183]
Science and technology
Main article: Science and technology in Botswana

Physicist in a lab at Botswana

International University of Science and Technology
In 2015, Botswana planned to use science and
technology to diversify its economy and thereby reduce
its dependence on diamond mining.[184] Botswana
published its updated National Policy on Research,
Science and Technology in 2011, within a UNESCO
project sponsored by the Spanish Agency for
International Cooperation and Development (AECID).
This policy was formulated in strategic documents that
include Botswana's Tenth National Development Plan for
2016 and Vision 2016.[184] The National Policy on
Research, Science, Technology and Innovation (2011)
fixes the target of raising gross domestic expenditure
on research and development (R&D) from 0.26% of GDP
in 2012 to over 2% of GDP by 2016. This target can only
be reached within the specified time frame by raising
public spending on R&D.[184] Botswana counts one of the
highest researcher densities in sub-Saharan Africa: 344
per million inhabitants (in head counts), compared to an
average of 91 per million inhabitants for the subcontinent
in 2013.[184] Botswana was ranked 85th in the Global
Innovation Index in 2023.[185][186]
In 2009, Botswana-based company Deaftronics
launched a solar-powered hearing aid after six years of
prototype development. Since then, Deaftronics has sold
over 10,000 of the hearing aids. Priced at $200 per unit,
each hearing aid includes four rechargeable
batteries (lasting up to three years) and a solar
charger for them. The product is inexpensive compared
to many similar devices, which can start at around $600.
[187][188]
In 2011, Botswana's Department of Agricultural
Research (DAR) unveiled Musi cattle, designed to
optimise beef production. As a hybrid of
the Tswana, Bonsmara, Brahman, Tuli and Simmental br
eeds,[189] it is hoped that the composite will lead to
increased beef production.[190] In 2016, the Botswana
Institute of Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI)
developed a rapid testing kit for foot-and-mouth
disease in collaboration with the Botswana Vaccine
Institute and Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The kit
developed in Botswana allows for on-site diagnosis to be
made.[191]
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) (MeerKAT) consists
of thousands of dishes and antennas spread over large
distances linked together to form one giant telescope.
Additional dishes will be located in eight other African
countries Botswana among them. Botswana was
selected to participate because of its ideal location in the
southern hemisphere and environment, which could
enable easier data collection from the universe. The
Botswana government has built the SKA precursor
telescope at Kgale View, which is the African Very Long
Base Line Interferometry Network (AVN), it sent students
on astronomy scholarships.[192]
 Cubesat miniaturized satellite
Botswana launched its own three-year programme to
build and launch a Micro Satellite (CubeSat) Botswana
Satellite Technology (Sat-1 Project) in Gaborone on 18
December 2020. The development of the satellite will be
led by Botswana International University of Science and
Technology (BIUST) with technical support from
the University of Oulu in Finland and Loon, a giant leap
forward in the realisation of Botswana's ambition to
become a technologically driven economy. The satellite,
which will be used for earth observation, will generate
data for farm planning and real-time virtual tourism. It
can also help predict and forecast harvest time.[193][194] In
2016, for the IT sector, Almaz opened a first-of-its-kind
computer assembly company.[195][196] Ditec, a Botswana
company, also customises, designs and
manufactures mobile phones. Ditec is specialized in the
customisation of Microsoft-powered devices.[197]
On 19 November 2021, scientists at the Botswana
Harvard HIV Reference Laboratory (BHHRL) first
discovered the variant Omicron subsequently designated
B.1.1.529, and then named "Omicron" becoming the first
country in the world to discover the variant. Since early
2021, they have genome-sequenced some 2,300
positive SARS-CoV-2 virus samples. According to Dr
Gaseitsiwe, Botswana's genome sequence submissions
to GISAID are among the highest in the African region on
a per capita basis, on a par with its well-resourced
neighbour South Africa. Botswana Harvard AIDS
Institute Partnership (BHP) was built in 2003, two years
after the umbrella organisation opened the BHHRL, its
purpose-built HIV research lab and one of the first on the
continent.[198]