1.
[syn: Botswana, Republic of Botswana]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Botswana
n 1: a landlocked republic in south-central Africa that became
independent from British control in the 1960s [syn:
Botswana, Republic of Botswana]
CIA World Factbook 2002:
Botswana
Introduction Botswana
---------------------
Background: Formerly the British protectorate of
Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its
new name upon independence in 1966.
The economy, one of the most robust
on the continent, is dominated by
diamond mining.
Geography Botswana
------------------
Location: Southern Africa, north of South
Africa
Geographic coordinates: 22 00 S, 24 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 600,370 sq km
water: 15,000 sq km
land: 585,370 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries: total: 4,013 km
border countries: Namibia 1,360 km,
South Africa 1,840 km, Zimbabwe 813
km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: semiarid; warm winters and hot
summers
Terrain: predominantly flat to gently rolling
tableland; Kalahari Desert in
southwest
Elevation extremes: lowest point: junction of the
Limpopo and Shashe Rivers 513 m
highest point: Tsodilo Hills 1,489 m
Natural resources: diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda
ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver
Land use: arable land: 0.61%
permanent crops: 0.01%
other: 99.39% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts; seasonal August
winds blow from the west, carrying
sand and dust across the country,
which can obscure visibility
Environment - current issues: overgrazing; desertification;
limited fresh water resources
Environment - international party to: Biodiversity, Climate
agreements: Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of
the selected agreements
Geography - note: landlocked; population concentrated
in eastern part of the country
People Botswana
---------------
Population: 1,591,232
note: estimates for this country
explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to
AIDS; this can result in lower life
expectancy, higher infant mortality
and death rates, lower population
and growth rates, and changes in the
distribution of population by age
and sex than would otherwise be
expected (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 40% (male 319,988;
female 316,961)
15-64 years: 55.8% (male 428,638;
female 458,777)
65 years and over: 4.2% (male
26,965; female 39,903) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.18% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 28.04 births/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Death rate: 26.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/
female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/
female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 64.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 35.29 years
female: 35.43 years (2002 est.)
male: 35.15 years
Total fertility rate: 3.6 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 35.8% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 290,000 (1999 est.)
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 24,000 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Motswana (singular), Batswana
(plural)
adjective: Motswana (singular),
Batswana (plural)
Ethnic groups: Tswana (or Setswana) 79%, Kalanga
11%, Basarwa 3%, other, including
Kgalagadi and white 7%
Religions: indigenous beliefs 85%, Christian
15%
Languages: English (official), Setswana
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read
and write
total population: 69.8%
male: 80.5%
female: 59.9% (1995 est.)
Government Botswana
-------------------
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of
Botswana
conventional short form: Botswana
former: Bechuanaland
Government type: parliamentary republic
Capital: Gaborone
Administrative divisions: 10 districts and four town
councils*; Central, Chobe,
Francistown*, Gaborone*, Ghanzi,
Kgalagadi, Kgatleng, Kweneng,
Lobatse*, Ngamiland, North-East,
Selebi-Pikwe*, South-East, Southern
Independence: 30 September 1966 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day (Botswana Day), 30
September (1966)
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
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Festus
MOGAE (since 1 April 1998) and Vice
President Seretse Ian KHAMA (since
13 July 1998); note - the president
is both the chief of state and head
of government
head of government: President Festus
MOGAE (since 1 April 1998) and Vice
President Seretse Ian KHAMA (since
13 July 1998); note - the president
is both the chief of state and head
of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the
president
elections: president elected by the
National Assembly for a five-year
term; election last held 16 October
1999 (next to be held NA October
2004); vice president appointed by
the president
election results: Festus MOGAE
elected president; percent of
National Assembly vote - 54.3%
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the
House of Chiefs (a largely advisory
15-member body consisting of the
chiefs of the eight principal
tribes, four elected subchiefs, and
three members selected by the other
12 members) and the National
Assembly (44 seats, 40 members are
directly elected by popular vote and
4 are appointed by the majority
party; members serve five-year
terms)
elections: National Assembly
elections last held 16 October 1999
(next to be held NA October 2004)
election results: percent of vote by
party - BDP 54.3%, BNF 24.7%, other
21%; seats by party - BDP 33, BNF 6,
other 1
Judicial branch: High Court; Court of Appeal;
Magistrates' Courts (one in each
district)
Political parties and leaders: Botswana Democratic Party or BDP
[Festus MOGAE]; Botswana National
Front or BNF [Otswoletse MOUPO];
Botswana Congress Party or BCP
[Otiandisa KOOSQLEDSE]; Botswana
Alliance Movement or BAM [Ephraim
Lepetu SETSHWAELO]
note: a number of minor parties
joined forces in 1999 to form the
BAM but did not capture any
parliamentary seats; the BAM parties
are: the United Action Party
[Ephraim Lepetu SETSHWAELO], the
Independence Freedom Party or IFP
[Motsamai MPHO], and the Botswana
Progressive Union [D. K. KWELE]
Political pressure groups and NA
leaders:
International organization ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77,
participation: IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC,
ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU,
SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Kgosi
SEEPAPITSO IV
chancery: 1531-1533 New Hampshire
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
FAX: [1] (202) 244-4164
telephone: [1] (202) 244-4990
Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador John E.
US: LANGE
embassy: address NA, Gaborone
mailing address: P. O. Box 90,
Gaborone
telephone: [267] 353982
FAX: [267] 312782
Flag description: light blue with a horizontal white-
edged black stripe in the center
Economy Botswana
----------------
Economy - overview: Botswana has maintained one of the
world's highest growth rates since
independence in 1966. Through fiscal
discipline and sound management,
Botswana has transformed itself from
one of the poorest countries in the
world to a middle-income country
with a per capita GDP of $7,800 in
2001. Two major investment services
rank Botswana as the best credit
risk in Africa. Diamond mining has
fueled much of expansion and
currently accounts for more than
one-third of GDP and for four-fifths
of export earnings. Tourism,
subsistence farming, and cattle
raising are other key sectors. On
the downside, the government must
deal with high rates of unemployment
and poverty. Unemployment officially
is 21%, but unofficial estimates
place it closer to 40%. HIV/AIDS
infection rates are the highest in
the world and threaten Botswana's
impressive economic gains.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $12.4
billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.7% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,800
(2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4%
industry: 44% (including 36% mining)
services: 52% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 47% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.6% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 264,000 formal sector employees
(2000)
Labor force - by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 40% (official rate is 21%) (2001
est.)
Budget: revenues: $2.3 billion
expenditures: $2.4 billion,
including capital expenditures of
$NA (FY01/02)
Industries: diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda
ash, potash; livestock processing;
textiles
Industrial production growth rate: 2.4% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production: 500 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 1.451 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 986 million kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: livestock, sorghum, maize, millet,
beans, sunflowers, groundnuts
Exports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: diamonds 80%, copper, nickel, soda
ash, meat, textiles (2001)
Exports - partners: EFTA 85%, Southern African Customs
Union (SACU) 10%, Zimbabwe 2% (1999)
Imports: $2.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery, electrical
goods, transport equipment,
textiles, fuel and petroleum
products, wood and paper products,
metal and metal products (2000)
Imports - partners: Southern African Customs Union
(SACU) 77%, EFTA 9%, Zimbabwe 4%
(1999)
Debt - external: $325 million (2001)
Economic aid - recipient: $73 million (1995)
Currency: pula (BWP)
Currency code: BWP
Exchange rates: pulas per US dollar - 6.8353
(January 2002), 5.8412 (2001),
5.1018 (2000), 4.6244 (1999), 4.2259
(1998), 3.6508 (1997)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications Botswana
-----------------------
Telephones - main lines in use: 150,000 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 200,000 (2000)
Telephone system: general assessment: the system is
expanding with the growth of mobile
cellular service and participation
in regional development
domestic: small system of open-wire
lines, microwave radio relay links,
and a few radiotelephone
communication stations; mobile
cellular service is growing fast
international: two international
exchanges; digital microwave radio
relay links to Namibia, Zambia,
Zimbabwe, and South Africa;
satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
(Indian Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 13, shortwave 4 (2001)
Radios: 252,720 (2000)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (2001)
Televisions: 31,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .bw
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 11 (2001)
Internet users: 33,000 (2001)
Transportation Botswana
-----------------------
Railways: total: 888 km
narrow gauge: 888 km 1.067-m gauge
(2000 est.)
Highways: total: 10,217 km
paved: 5,620 km
unpaved: 4,597 km (1999)
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: none
Airports: 92 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 81
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 56
under 914 m: 22 (2001)
Military Botswana
-----------------
Military branches: Botswana Defense Force (including
Army and Air Wing), Botswana
National Police
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 384,888 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 202,685 (2002 est.)
service:
Military manpower - reaching males: 19,479 (2002 est.)
military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar $135 million (FY01/02)
figure:
Military expenditures - percent of 3.5% (FY01/02)
GDP:
Transnational Issues Botswana
-----------------------------
Disputes - international: none