Portal:Botswana

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Coat of Arms of Botswana	Flag of Botswana

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Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 per cent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, Zambia to the north and Zimbabwe to the northeast. With a population of slightly over 2.4 million people and a comparable land area to France, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. It is essentially the nation-state of the Tswana people, who constitute nearly 80 per cent of the population.

The Tswana ethnic group are descended mainly from Bantu-speaking peoples who migrated into southern Africa, including modern Botswana, in several waves before AD 600. In 1885, the British colonised the area and declared a protectorate named Bechuanaland. As part of the decolonisation of Africa, Bechuanaland became an independent Commonwealth republic under its current name on 30 September 1966. Since then, it has been a parliamentary republic with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections, although the Botswana Democratic Party was the only ruling party from independence until 2024. As of 2024^[update], Botswana is the third-least corrupt country in Africa, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International.

The economy is dominated by mining and tourism. Botswana has a per capita GDP (purchasing power parity) of about $20,158 as of 2024^[update]. Botswana is the world's biggest diamond-producing country. Its relatively high gross national income per capita (by some estimates the fourth-largest in Africa) gives the country a relatively high standard of living and the second-highest Human Development Index of continental Sub-Saharan Africa (after South Africa). Despite this, Botswana continues to grapple with high unemployment rates. Botswana is a member of the Southern African Customs Union, the Southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations. (Full article...)

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Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1964	3,855	—
1971	17,718	+359.6%
1981	59,657	+236.7%
1991	133,468	+123.7%
2001	186,007	+39.4%
2011	231,592	+24.5%

The history of Gaborone began with archaeological evidence in the area around Gaborone dating back to 400 BCE, and the first written accounts of Gaborone are from the earliest European settlers in the 19th century. Since the 1960s, when Botswana gained its independence from Britain and Gaborone became the capital, the city has grown from a small village in the Botswana scrubland to a major center in southern Africa. (Full article...)

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... that the first trade union in Botswana was not recognised by the ruling Bechuanaland Protectorate until 1964, 16 years after its formation?

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This is a good article, A-class article, featured list, or featured article, one of Wikipedia’s best work.

Botswana is a parliamentary republic in which the President of Botswana is both head of state and head of government. The nation's politics are based heavily on British parliamentary politics and on traditional Batswana chiefdom. The legislature is made up of the unicameral National Assembly and the advisory body of tribal chiefs, the Ntlo ya Dikgosi. The National Assembly chooses the president, but once in office the president has significant authority over the legislature with only limited separation of powers.

The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ruled as the dominant party from 1966 to 2024; while elections are considered free and fair by observers, the BDP controlled the National Assembly since independence. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Botswana-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Botswana traditional baskets (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 2SSKI Airport (from Gaborone)
Image 3CBD Developments (from Gaborone)
Image 4Jan Mashiani and Len Taunyane were the first black participants from Africa in the Olympics (from Tswana people)
Image 5Watch house in Gaborone Game Reserve (from Gaborone)
Image 6Francistown Bus Terminal (from Francistown)
Image 7Kombi (Minibus taxi) (from Gaborone)
Image 8Gaborone aerial (from Gaborone)
Image 9Seretse Khama signing the oath of office to become Botswana's first President in 1966 (from History of Botswana)
Image 10I-Tower at Central Business District (from Gaborone)
Image 11Francistown City Bus and Taxi Rank (from Francistown)
Image 12Gaborone Mosque (from Gaborone)
Image 13Bechuanaland Boys cleaning Aa Guns in the Twilight after Action, Syracuse, Sicily, 1944 art piece by Leslie Cole (from History of Botswana)
Image 14Gaborone Hindu temple (from Gaborone)
Image 15I-Towers, Gaborone Central Business District (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 16New CBD (from Gaborone)
Image 17Graduation daggers that were given to Tswana Fighting Regiments (from Tswana people)
Image 18Magadi (traditional wedding) (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 19Christ The King Cathedral (from Gaborone)
Image 20Road map of Gaborone (from Gaborone)
Image 21Satellite View of Gaborone. North is to the left of the image. (from Gaborone)
Image 22Batswana Men dressed in traditional attire in 1946 (from Tswana people)
Image 23A 1960 stamp of the Bechuanaland Protectorate featuring images of Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II, the first and last British monarchs of the protectorate (from History of Botswana)
Image 24Tourist resort at Kasane (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 25The Jwaneng diamond mine is the second biggest in the world today. (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 26A postage stamp circa 1943, the postmark reading "Gaborone's Village" (from Gaborone)
Image 27Rail network map of Botswana (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 28An 1865 portrait of Kgosi Sechele I in Ntsweng Bechuanaland (from Tswana people)
Image 29Prehistoric cave paintings at Tsodilo (from History of Botswana)
Image 30Homestead in the ancient City of Kaditshwene
Image 31Gaborone Dam (from Gaborone)
Image 32Street scene near the Main Mall (from Gaborone)
Image 33The National Assembly of Botswana (from Gaborone)
Image 34St. Joseph's College students (from Gaborone)
Image 35New Construction Developments (from Gaborone)
Image 36Orapa House (from Gaborone)
Image 37GDP per capita (current), compared to neighbouring countries (world average = 100) (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 38Room 52 Roof Top Restaurant (from Gaborone)
Image 39Festus Mogae alongside foreign presidents Joaquim Chissano, George W. Bush, and José Eduardo dos Santos in 2002 (from History of Botswana)
Image 40Botswana traditional house at the National Museum (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 41View from Kgale Hill (Oodi Hill on horizon) (from Gaborone)
Image 42Madila sour cultured milk (from Tswana people)
Image 43Rev. Derek Jones, the first mayor of Gaborone
Image 44Gaborone Dam (from Gaborone)
Image 45Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) (from Gaborone)
Image 46Botswana Gaborone I Towers (from Gaborone)
Image 47CBD Mall (from Gaborone)
Image 48Mokgweetsi Masisi speaking at a conference on the illegal wildlife trade in London in 2018 (from History of Botswana)
Image 49Rhodesia Railways car at the national museum (from Gaborone)
Image 50Aerial view over Okavango Delta (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 51A road in Gaborone (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 52Gaborone Hindu Temple (from Gaborone)
Image 53BR Express, the passenger train (from Francistown)
Image 54Flag map of Gaborone (from Gaborone)
Image 55Man on donkey herding goats in a dry river bed (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 56Ostriches at Mokolodi Nature Reserve, Botswana (from Gaborone)
Image 57Francistown Stadium (from Francistown)
Image 58An illustration of a Tswana man and his wife in the early 1800s (from History of Botswana)
Image 59Tswana Baskets (from Tswana people)