Botswana

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Republic of Botswana Lefatshe la Botswana (Tswana)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Pula "Let it Rain"
Anthem: Fatshe leno la rona "Blessed Be This Noble Land"
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Capital and largest city	Gaborone 24°39.5′S 25°54.5′E / 24.6583°S 25.9083°E / -24.6583; 25.9083
Official languages	English[1]
National language	Setswana[1]
Ethnic groups (2012[3])	79% Tswana 11% Kalanga 7% White 2% San 1% others[2][a]
Religion (2021)	79.1% Christianity 70.2% Protestantism 8.9% other Christian 15.2% no religion 4.1% Badimo 1.4% others[b] 0.3% unspecified[4]
Demonym(s)	Batswana (plural) Motswana (singular) [5]
Government	Unitary dominant-party parliamentary republic with an executive presidency[6][7]
• President	Mokgweetsi Masisi[8]
• Vice-President	Slumber Tsogwane
• National Assembly Speaker	Phandu Skelemani
Legislature	Parliament (National Assembly)
Independence  from the United Kingdom
• Established (Constitution)	30 September 1966
Area
• Total	581,730 km2 (224,610 sq mi)[9] (47th)
• Water (%)	2.7
Population
• 2023 estimate	2,417,596[10] (145th)
• 2021 census	2,359,609[11]
• Density	4.6/km2 (11.9/sq mi) (231st)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$54.647 billion[12] (124th)
• Per capita	$20,158[12] (83rd)
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$21.90 billion[12] (122nd)
• Per capita	$7,859[12] (87th)
Gini (2016)	45.5[13][14] medium
HDI (2022)	0.708[15] high (114th)
Currency	Pula (BWP)
Time zone	UTC+2 (Central Africa Time[16])
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	left
Calling code	+267
ISO 3166 code	BW
Internet TLD	.bw
Website www.gov.bw

Botswana,^[c] officially the Republic of Botswana,^[d] is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast.

A country of slightly over 2.4 million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. It is essentially the nation state of the Tswana people, who make up 79% of the population.

The Tswana ethnic group were descended mainly from Bantu-speaking tribes who migrated southward of Africa to modern Botswana around AD 600, living in tribal enclaves as farmers and herders. In 1885, the British colonised the area and declared a protectorate under the name of Bechuanaland. As decolonisation occurred, 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, though as of 2024 the Botswana Democratic Party has been the ruling party since independence. As of 2024, Botswana is the third least corrupt country in the continent of Africa.

The economy is dominated by mining and tourism. Botswana has a GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita 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).

Botswana is a member of the Southern African Customs Union, the Southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations.

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