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Botswana

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries;
Countries

   SOS Children works in Botswana. For more information see SOS Children
   in Botswana, Africa
              Lefatshe la Botswana
   Republic of Botswana

   Flag of Botswana Coat of arms of Botswana
   Flag             Coat of arms
   Motto: Pula  ("Rain")
   Anthem: Fatshe leno la rona
   ("Blessed Be This Noble Land")
   Location of Botswana
   Capital
   (and largest city) Gaborone
                      24°40′S 25°55′E
   Official languages English (official)
                      Tswana (national)
   Government         Parliamentary Republic
    - President       Festus Gontebanye Mogae
      Independence    from the UK
    - Date            September 30, 1966
                      Area
    - Total           581,730 km² ( 41th)
                      224,606 sq mi
    - Water (%)       2.5
                   Population
    - 2005 estimate   1,765,000 ( 147th)
    - Density         3.0/km² ( 220th)
                      7.8/sq mi
       GDP ( PPP)     2005 estimate
    - Total           $18.068 billion ( 114th)
    - Per capita      $11,410 ( 60th)
      HDI  (2006)     0.570 (medium) ( 131st)
        Currency      Pula ( BWP)
       Time zone      CAT ( UTC+2)
    - Summer ( DST)   not observed ( UTC+2)
      Internet TLD    .bw
      Calling code    +267
   Okavango Delta, Botswana.
   Enlarge
   Okavango Delta, Botswana.

   Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana ( Tswana: Lefatshe la
   Botswana), is a landlocked nation in Southern Africa. Formerly the
   British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name
   after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on September 30,
   1966. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast,
   Namibia to the west, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the
   northeast. The economy, closely tied to South Africa's, is predominated
   by mining (especially diamonds), cattle, and tourism. The country is
   named after its largest ethnic group, the Tswana.

Geography and environment

   Map of Botswana
   Enlarge
   Map of Botswana

   Satellite image of Botswana, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Botswana, generated from raster graphics data
   supplied by The Map Library
   Districts of Botswana
   Enlarge
   Districts of Botswana

   Summary

   Predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in
   southwest

   More detail

   At 231,788  mi² (600,370  km²), Botswana is the world's 45th-largest
   country (after Ukraine). It is comparable in size to Madagascar, and is
   slightly smaller than the state of Texas in Southern United States.

   Botswana is dominated by the Kalahari Desert, which covers up to 70% of
   the land surface of the country. The Okavango Delta, the world's
   largest inland delta, is in the Northwest. The Makgadikgadi Pan, a
   large salt pan lies in the North.

   Botswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat, including the Okavango
   Delta, the Kalahari Desert, grasslands and savannas, the latter where
   Blue Wildebeest and many antelopes as well as other mammals and birds
   are found.

Human geography

   Administrative divisions

   Botswana is divided into nine districts:

   1 Central
   2 Ghanzi
   3 Kgalagadi
   4 Kgatleng
   5 Kweneng

              6 North-East
              7 North-West
              8 South-East
              9 Southern

   These districts are subdivided into twenty-eight subdistricts.

   Main population centres (in descending order)

   Cities
     * Gaborone
     * Francistown

   Towns and villages
     * Molepolole
     * Selebi-Phikwe
     * Maun
     * Serowe
     * Kanye
     * Mahalapye

                      * Mochudi
                      * Mogoditshane
                      * Lobatse
                      * Palapye
                      * Tlokweng
                      * Ramotswa

                                      * Thamaga
                                      * Moshupa
                                      * Tonota
                                      * Jwaneng
                                      * Orapa
                                      * Letlhakane

Politics and government

   The politics of Botswana takes place in a framework of a presidential
   representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Botswana
   is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform
   multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.
   Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament
   of Botswana. Since independence the party system is dominated by the
   Botswana Democratic Party. The Judiciary is independent of the
   executive and the legislature.

Defence

   At the time of independence Botswana had no armed forces. It was only
   after attacks from the Rhodesian army that Botswana formed a Botswana
   Defence Force (BDF) in self-defence in 1977. The president is commander
   in chief and a defence council is appointed by the president. The BDF
   now has approximately 12,000 members.

   The BDF is a capable and well-disciplined military force. Following
   positive political changes in South Africa and the region, the BDF's
   missions have increasingly focused on anti-poaching activities,
   disaster-preparedness, 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 has received U.S.
   training. It is considered an apolitical and professional institution.

Foreign relations

   Botswana puts a premium on economic and political integration in
   Southern Africa. It seeks to make SADC a working vehicle for economic
   development, and promotes efforts to make the region self-policing in
   terms of preventative diplomacy, conflict resolution, and good
   governance. It has welcomed post-apartheid South Africa as a partner in
   these efforts. Botswana joins the African consensus on most major
   international matters and is a member of international organisations
   such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations and the African
   Union (AU). Botswana is also a member of the International Criminal
   Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the
   US-military (as covered under Article 98).

Economy

   Cattle at a water hole near Serowe.
   Enlarge
   Cattle at a water hole near Serowe.

   Since independence, Botswana has had the fastest growth in per capita
   income in the world . Economic growth averaged over 9% per year from
   1966 to 1999. 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 $5.1 billion
   in 2003/2004) amounting to almost two and one half years of current
   imports. Botswana's impressive economic record has been built on the
   foundation of wisely using revenue generated from diamond mining to
   fuel economic development through prudent fiscal policies and a
   cautious foreign policy. Debswana, the only diamond mining company
   operating in Botswana, is 50% owned by the government and generates
   about half of all government revenues.

   However, economic development spending was cut by 10% in 2002-2003 as a
   result of recurring budget deficits and rising expenditure on
   healthcare services. Botswana has been hit very hard by the AIDS
   epidemic; the average life expectancy is approximately 40 years, third
   to Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Approximately one in three Batswana has HIV,
   giving Botswana the second highest HIV infection rate in the world
   after Swaziland. The government recognizes that HIV/AIDS will affect
   the economy and is trying to combat the epidemic, including free
   Antiretroviral drug treatment and a nation-wide Prevention of
   Mother-to-Child Transmission program.

   Some of Botswana's budget deficits can be traced to relatively high
   military expenditures (of roughly 4% of GDP in 2004, according to the
   CIA World Factbook), which some critics contend is unnecessary given
   the low likelihood of international conflict (though the Botswana
   government also makes use of these troops for multilateral operations
   and assistance efforts).

Private sector development and foreign investment

   Palapye children, 1987, after the first rain for years.
   Enlarge
   Palapye children, 1987, after the first rain for years.

   Botswana seeks to further diversify its economy away from minerals,
   which account for a third of GDP, down from nearly half of GDP in the
   early 1990s. Foreign investment and management are welcomed in
   Botswana. Botswana abolished foreign exchange controls in 1999, has a
   low corporate tax rate (15%), no prohibitions on foreign ownership of
   companies, and a moderate inflation rate (7.6% November 2004). The
   Government of Botswana is currently considering additional policies to
   enhance competitiveness, including a new Foreign Direct Investment
   Strategy, Competition Policy, Privatisation Master Plan, and National
   Export Development Strategy.

   With its proven record of good economic governance, Botswana was ranked
   as Africa's least corrupt country by Transparency International in
   2004, ahead of many European and Asian countries. The World Economic
   Forum rates Botswana as one of the two most economically competitive
   nations in Africa. In 2004 Botswana was once again assigned "A" grade
   credit ratings by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. This ranks Botswana as
   by far the best credit risk in Africa and puts it on par with or above
   many countries in central Europe, East Asia, and Latin America.

   U.S. investment in Botswana remains at relatively low levels, but
   continues to grow. Major U.S. corporations, such as H.J. Heinz and AON
   Corporation, are present through direct investments, while others, such
   as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Remax, are present via franchise. The
   sovereign credit ratings by Moody's and Standard & Poor's clearly
   indicate that, despite continued challenges such as small market size,
   landlocked location, and cumbersome bureaucratic processes, Botswana
   remains one of the best investment opportunities in the developing
   world. Botswana has a 90-member American Business Council that accepts
   membership from American-affiliated companies.

   Because of history and geography, Botswana has long had deep ties to
   the economy of South Africa. The Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU),
   comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa, dates from
   1910, and is the world’s oldest customs union. Namibia joined in 1990.
   Under this arrangement, South Africa has collected levies from customs,
   sales, and excise duties for all five members, sharing out proceeds
   based on each country's portion of imports. The exact formula for
   sharing revenues and the decision-making authority over duties — held
   exclusively by the Government of South Africa — became increasingly
   controversial, and the members renegotiated the arrangement in 2001.
   The new structure has now been formally ratified and a SACU Secretariat
   has been established in Windhoek, Namibia. Following South Africa's
   accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Botswana also joined;
   many of the SACU duties are thus declining, making products from
   outside the area more competitive in Botswana. Currently the SACU
   countries and the U.S. are negotiating a free trade agreement. Botswana
   is currently also negotiating a free trade agreement with Mercosur and
   an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union as part of
   SADC.

   Botswana's currency, the Pula, is fully convertible and is valued
   against a basket of currencies heavily weighted toward the South
   African Rand. Profits and direct investment can be repatriated without
   restriction from Botswana. The Botswana Government eliminated all
   exchange controls in 1999. The Central Bank devalued the Pula by 7.5%
   in February 2004 in a bid to maintain export competitiveness against
   the real appreciation of the Pula. There was a further 12% devalution
   in May 2005 and the policy of a "crawling peg" was adopted.

   Most (70%) of Botswana's electricity is imported from South Africa's
   Eskom. 80% of domestic production is concentrated in one plant,
   Morupule Power Station near Palapye.
   Botswana is not all sand and swamp: children playing in Moremi Gorge
   east of Palapye.
   Enlarge
   Botswana is not all sand and swamp: children playing in Moremi Gorge
   east of Palapye.

   Gaborone is host to the headquarters of the 14 nation Southern African
   Development Community (SADC), a successor to the Southern African
   Development Coordination Conference (SADCC-launched in 1980), which
   focused its efforts on freeing regional economic development from
   dependence on apartheid South Africa. SADC embraced the newly
   democratic South Africa as a member in 1994 and has a broad mandate to
   encourage growth, development, and economic integration in Southern
   Africa. SADC's Trade Protocol, which was launched on September 1, 2000,
   calls for the elimination of all tariff and non-tariff barriers to
   trade by 2008 among the 11 signatory countries. If successful, it will
   give Botswana companies free access to the far larger regional market.
   SADC's failure to distance itself from the Mugabe government in
   Zimbabwe has diminished the number of opportunities for cooperation
   between the U.S. and SADC.

   Botswana is in the process or formulating an Action Programme on the
   Elimination of Child Labour, which is expected to be adopted in the
   period 2006-2007.

Tourism

   Tourism plays a role in Botswana. A number of national parks and game
   reserves, with their abundant wildlife, are a top draw for tourists.

   Botswana is the setting for the popular mystery series by Alexander
   McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and was also the
   location for the 1980 movie " The Gods Must Be Crazy".
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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