Botswana History and Overview

Area: 231,804 sq mi) Botswana has shared boundaries with Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

Population: 2,021,000

Capital: Gaborone (231,592 residents).

Geography:
The Kalahari Desert occupies a 70% part of the country. The Okavango Delta lies in the northwestern part of Botswana and it is regarded as the world’s largest inland delta. Another geographical feature of Botswana is the Makgadikgadi pan; a large salt pan that is located in the northern part of the country. The maximum concentration of population is found in the eastern part of Botswana. Botswana experiences a semi-arid climate with hot summers and warm winters. The lowest part of Botswana is found at the juncture of Shashe and Limpopo rivers at a height of 513 meters, and at the same time the highest point is at Tsodilo Hills at a height of 1489 meters.

 Currency: Botswana Pula (P) = 100 Thebe (t). Pula (means ‘rain’ in Setswana) notes are in denominations of P200, 100, 50, 20 and 10 Coins are in denominations of P1, P2, P5, 5t, 10t, 25t and 50t.

1 BWP = 0.10 USD

$1 USD = 9.85 BWP

Government: Parliamentary Republic.

President: Ian Khama (since 2008).

Language
The official language of Botswana is English, which was inherited from colonial rule. Setswana is spoken by around 90% of the population.

There are over 20 much smaller languages, the largest of which is Kalanga (Sekalanga), while other languages include Sarwa (Sesarwa), Ndebele, and in some parts, Afrikaans.

Religion:
An estimated 70 percent of Botswana citizens identify themselves as Christians. Other religions that make up a fraction of the population include Muslims, Hindus and Baha’i.

History:

The history of Botswana mirrors much of Africa; mankind evolved outward from the Great Rift Valley, settled, slowly tribes formed across the country, larger tribal civilizations grew (and, of course, warred and traded with one another), colonial settlements totally disrupted the local civilizations, they experienced an era of colonial rule, then, ultimately, independence.

In Botswana’s case, they consistently took, seemingly, the most fortuitous path through their evolution: i) the native population settled on very mineral (goold and lots of diamonds!) and resource rich land, ii) local leaders successfully navigated colonialism, soliciting protection from the British which formed the protectorate of Bechuanaland in 1885, iii) Botswana had burgeoning neighbors that helped trade and culture develop, peacefully, iv) they successful transition to majority rule, taking independence from the British in 1966, and lastly, v) Botswana created a fair and relatively free system of government that has created peace and prosperity in the region ever since their first leader Seretse Khama took power, never falling into the seemingly addictive kleptocracy, corruption, or autocracy of so many developing countries.

Botswana lives up to its reputation as a relatively fair, peaceful, stable and very happy little corner in southern Africa. They are fortunate to have a much simpler political environment than many of their Africa neighbors, since most citizens of Botswana belong to one tribe (much of the complexity of Africa {and Middle East!!!} is due to country borders being drawn by geographic landmarks and not cultural distinctions, resulting in tribes that don’t want to live together being forced to live within one political system), it has a small population, and the country is very affluent relative to its neighbors.

Ten fun tidbits and facts:

1. Botswana is the country
2. Botswana’s capital is Gaborone
3. Setswana is the national language (although almost everyone speaks English)
4. Batswana are the people of the Botswana, and Motswana is one person
5. The country is approximately the size, geographically, as Kenya, France, or Texas
6. The Jwaneng diamond mine, the south of Botswana, is the richest diamond mine in the world
7. 70-80% of the country is covered by the Kalahari Desert, where it gets very hot
8. Botswana has the largest population of elephant in Africa
9. The Okavango Delta is the largest inland delta on the planet
10. Botswana has a stable multi-party democracy, with a Parliament that chooses the President who serves a maximum of two, five year, terms in office (although they have a legitimate opposition party and free elections, the dominant “Botswana Democratic Party” has won every single election since independence)

It’s a very special place and a country we are excited to visit, and hopefully return to one day!