According to Countryaah.com, with capital city of Gaborone, Botswana is a country located in Southern Africa with total population of 2,351,638.
See ABBREVIATIONFINDER for how BC can stand for Botswana.
Country data
Area: 582,000 km2 (world ranking: 47)
Residents: 2,292,000
Population density: 4 per km2 (as of 2017, world ranking: 141)
Capital: Gaborone
Official languages: English
Gross domestic product: US $ 17.4 billion; Real growth: 2.4%
Gross national product (GNP, per resident and year): 6820 US$
Currency: 1 Pula (P) = 100 Thebe
Embassy
Lennéstr. 5, 10785 Berlin
Telephone 030 887195010,
Fax 030 887195012
www.embassyofbotswana.de
Government
Head of State and Government: Mokgweetsi MasisiSlumber Tsogwane, Outside: Vincent T. Seretse
National holiday: 30.9.
Administrative structure
10 districts and 6 self-governing cities
State and form of government
Constitution of 1966
Presidential Republic (in the Commonwealth)
Parliament: National Assembly with 63 members (57 elected, 4 appointed, 2 ex officio), election every 5 years; Advisory chief chamber (House of Chiefs) with a maximum of 35 appointed for 5 years Member..
Choice of head of state by Parliament every 5 years (renewable once)
Voting age 18 years
Population: Botsuaner, last census in 2011: 2,024,904 residents.
95 % Bantu: mainly Sotho-Tswana (including Bamangwato, Bakwena) and Schona; 2.4% San, 1.3% other
Cities (with population): (As of 2011) Gaborone 231,592 pop., Francistown 98,961, Molepolole 66,466, Maun 60,263, Mogoditshane 58,079, Serowe 50,820, Selebi-Phikwe 49,411, Kanye 47,007
Religions: 72% Christians (especially Protestants), 6% Badimo (indigenous religion); 21% without religion (as of 2006)
Languages: English; Setswana et al. Bantu languages Employed
By economic sector: no information
Unemployment (in% of all economically active persons)
no information
Inflation rate (in%): 2017: 3.3%
Foreign trade: Import: 5.1 billion US $ (2017); Export: US $ 5.9 billion (2017)
HISTORY
At the turn of the century, Botswana represented a positive exception within Africa, from both an economic-social and a political point of view. All its development indicators were above the continental average: GDP per inhabitant (about $ 3,330 ) even exceeded that of the Republic of South Africa, infant mortality was 50 % lower than the African average, more than 70 % of the population had access to drinking water, schooling reached almost all boys and girls, the foreign debt was insignificant (less than 10% of GDP), the rate of corruption in public life was placed by international agencies at the lowest levels of the entire continent. The risks for the future seemed to lie above all in the worrying spread of the AIDS epidemic, which now involved 36 % of the population, reducing life expectancy at birth to about 40 years, compared to 60.of the early nineties: however, thanks also to the relative solidity of its economic position, it was the first African country to guarantee the free distribution of antiviral therapies. The strength of the Botswana’s economy was based on diamond mining, farming and tourism; all three sectors had been subject to strong modernization processes, mainly carried out by public intervention. Conservation and development of these resources certainly also contributed to the political stability of the country and to guarantee, since independence, the maintenance of a pluralist parliamentary regime, to which were added, in original forms, some typical elements of the African tradition: for example, the House of Heads, with the right to consultative voting, which brought together 15traditional leaders of different ethnic groups. However, the presence of a democratic political structure did not coincide with the alternation of parties in power, and the BDP ( Botswana Democratic Party ) ruled the country since independence, although it had sometimes seen its consensus decrease, especially around the mid-1990s.. The president FW Mogae, of the BDP, elected in 1998, was reconfirmed in office in October 2004, winning 52 % of the votes, while in the parliamentary consultations held in the same month his party won 44 seats, compared to 12 in the BNF ( Botswana National Front ), with 26% of the votes, and the only seat of the BCP ( Botswana Congress Party ), with 17 %. See securitypology.com for Botswana tour plan.
Botswana traditionally maintained good relations with neighboring countries, despite some territorial disputes with its northern neighbors, Namibia and Zimbabwe, and despite the decision, in 2003, to erect an electrified grid on the border with the latter, officially only to prevent the passage of sick cattle, but in reality also to hinder the arrival of refugees, which increased in previous years mainly due to the significant worsening of the economic and political situation in Zimbabwe.
Gaborone
Gaborone, capital of Botswana; 227,300 residents (2011). The city is located on the Johannesburg-Bulawayo railway near the South African border. It became the capital the year before independence in 1966; previously the colony was administered from Mafeking in South Africa. Gaborone was then a great village; it is now growing strongly with modern state administration, the country’s university and other service functions. However, this growth causes problems; Initially (in 1962), Gaborone was planned based on a population of 20,000. Despite its location on the Ngotwane River, water supply is one of the most serious problems.