Botswana is a land-locked country located in southern Africa.
It is bordered on the northeast by Zimbabwe;
the southeast and south by South
Africa, and the west and northwest by Namibia.
The country is slightly smaller than Texas. The Kalahari Desert is in
the southwest portion of the country while the majority of the population
is concentrated in the eastern part of the country.
Botswana has a parliamentary republic form of government — a holdover from when it was a British protectorate. The president is elected to a five year term (and eligible for a second term) by the National Assembly. The vice president is appointed by the president. Gaborone, located in the southern portion of the country near the border with South Africa, is the capital. The Botswana currency is the pula.
The July 2007 estimate of the population was 1,815,508 with a population growth rate of 1.5 percent. The current life expectancy is 50.58 years with women outliving men by two years. It is estimated that over 37 percent of the adult population has HIV/AIDS; the second highest rate in the world. Despite the high HIV/AIDS rate, Botswana has one of the most aggressive and progressive programs for dealing with the disease.
Although English is the official language of the country, only 2.1 percent of the populace speak it. Setswana is the most common language and is spoken by 78.2 percent of the population. Botswana has an 81.2 percent literacy rate of people over the age of 15.
Christianity is the majority religion with over 71 percent of the population following some form of the religion. Over 20 percent of the population follows no religion.
Web Sites
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