Profile - Botswana

I INTRODUCTION
Botswana, republic in southern Africa, a landlocked country, bounded on the north and west by Namibia, on the northeast by Zambia and Zimbabwe, and on the southeast and south by South Africa. The total area of Botswana is 581,730 sq km (224,607 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Gaborone.

II LAND AND RESOURCES
Most of Botswana is a tableland with an average elevation of about 1,000 m (about 3,300 ft). The Kalahari Desert covers the central and southwestern portions of the country. The principal stream is the Okavango River, which flows southeast from the Angola highlands into northwestern Botswana and drains into the Okavango Delta (Okavango Swamp), where it forms a vast marshland. During the rainy season the flow continues east on the Boteti River to Lake Xau and the Makgadikgadi Pan. The southern part of the country has no permanent streams. In general, Botswana has a semiarid subtropical climate. The average annual rainfall varies from about 640 mm (about 25 in) in the north to less than 230 mm (less than 9 in) in the Kalahari. Rainfall is concentrated in the summer months (December to April). Precipitation, however, is undependable, and the country is subject to drought. Savanna vegetation predominates in most parts of Botswana, and consists of grasslands interspersed with trees. Principal species include acacia, bloodwood, and Rhodesian teak. Wildlife is abundant in Botswana and includes lions, giraffes, leopards, antelope, elephants, crocodiles, and ostriches. Mineral resources include diamonds, copper, nickel, coal, cobalt, manganese, soda ash, asbestos, and salt.

III POPULATION
The population of Botswana (1998 estimate) is 1,448,454, giving the country an overall population density of 2.5 persons per sq km (6.4 per sq mi). The majority of the population is concentrated in the eastern part of the country, and 35 percent live in rural areas. Many live in small villages surrounded by agricultural land. The population growth rate in 1998 was 1.1 percent annually. Life expectancy at birth was 39.5 years for men and 41 years for women. Gaborone, the main business center, has a population (1991) of 133,468. Other business centers are Francistown (65,244), Selebi-Pikwe (39,772), Molepolole (36,928), Kanye (31,341), and Serowe (30,706).

Botswana received its name from the country's principal ethnic group, the Tswana, who can be divided into eight tribes. Representatives of several other peoples are also found, including a small number of San (Bushmen), who have inhabited the region for many centuries. About one-half of the population practice traditional African religions; most of the remainder are Christians. English is the official language, but most of the people speak Setswana, the language of the Tswana, which belongs to the Sotho subgroup of Bantu languages.

In 1995 Botswana's adult literacy rate neared 69.8 percent. Most primary schools are supervised by the district councils and township authorities and are financed from local government revenues assisted by grants-in-aid from the central government. Virtually all primary school-aged children were enrolled in school in 1996, while 66 percent of secondary school-aged children were enrolled. Specialized education was provided by teacher-training schools and vocational-training schools. Some 8,850 students were enrolled in the University of Botswana (1976), in Gaborone.

IV ECONOMY
The economy of Botswana was formerly dependent on the export of live cattle and meat. Since the late 1960s the discovery and exploitation of mineral resources, notably diamonds, have assumed primary importance in export earnings. Income is also derived from the export of labor to South Africa. The estimated budget in 1996 included revenues of $2.2 billion and expenditures of $1.7 billion.

Botswana is the world's largest supplier of gem-quality diamonds, with two-thirds of production meeting gem standards. Diamonds account for four-fifths of Botswana’s annual export revenue. Some 13 million carats of gem-quality diamonds were extracted in 1997. Prospectors discovered diamonds in northern Botswana in the early 1970s, and the first mine opened at Orapa in 1972, followed by a smaller mine at Letlhakane. What developed into the world's richest mine opened in Jwaneng in 1982. Important deposits of copper and nickel are in the Selebi-Pikwe area. Much of the nickel and copper produced annually is exported, as is soda ash and small quantities of gold. Of the 765,000 metric tons of coal extracted in 1997, almost all was used inside the country.

A slaughterhouse, opened at Lobatse in 1954, helped to modernize Botswana's livestock industry. In 1998 the number of cattle was 2.3 million; goats, 1.9 million; and sheep, 250,000.

The currency of Botswana is the pula (3.65 pulas equal U.S.$1; 1997 average). In 1996 Botswana's annual imports cost $1.7 billion; exports earned $3.2 billion in the same year. The country is in a customs union that includes Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland; South Africa is Botswana's leading trade partner.

Botswana has about 18,482 km (about 11,484 mi) of roads and 888 km (552 mi) of railroads. Air Botswana links major domestic communities and has regularly scheduled flights to foreign cities. The only daily newspaper, the Botswana Daily News, is published by the government and had a circulation of 40,000 in 1996. Radio Botswana, which is also government-controlled, broadcasts in English and Setswana from Gaborone. A commercial radio network was founded in 1992.

V GOVERNMENT
Botswana is governed under a constitution promulgated in 1965. Executive power is vested in the president, assisted by a vice president and a cabinet of about ten ministers. The president is elected to a five-year term by Botswana's legislature, called the National Assembly; the president may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. The National Assembly consists of 40 members elected to five-year terms by universal adult suffrage, four specially elected members, the speaker, and the attorney general, who may not vote. The House of Chiefs, with 15 members (including the chiefs of the eight principal Tswana groups), must be consulted by the government on all matters relating to the chieftaincies and constitutional changes. The leading political party is the Botswana Democratic Party. The judicial system includes magistrates' courts and the High Court. Appeals in both civil and criminal cases are carried to the Court of Appeal.

VI HISTORY
The Tswana migrated to the region that is now Botswana by 1800 and displaced the native San. Missionaries, including David Livingstone and Robert Moffat from Scotland, arrived in the first half of the 19th century and established missions. The territory was taken under British protection in 1885, after all the principal chiefs complained that Boers, or Afrikaners, from the Transvaal region in what is now northern South Africa, were invading their territories.

During World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) contingents from Bechuanaland, as Botswana was then called, served overseas and on their return helped stimulate economic and political change. The first elections to a legislative council were held in 1961. Under the name Botswana, the country achieved independence in 1966, with the former prime minister, Sir Seretse Khama, as the first president. When Khama died in 1980, he was succeeded by Quett Ketumile Joni Masire, who was reelected by the legislature in 1984, 1989, and 1994. Masire retired from politics in 1998 and was succeeded by his vice president, Festus Mogae.

Since independence, Botswana has taken a nonaligned stance in foreign affairs. While it opposed the former racial policies of neighboring South Africa, Botswana has, out of economic necessity, maintained close ties with that country.

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