Portal: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% of its territory being a 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. While it is not enshrined by statutory law, Botswana is de facto the nation state of the Batswana people, who constitute nearly 80% of the population while legally undistinguished Kalanga people, who account for another 11%, are the single largest ethnic minority.

The Batswana 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, though dominated by the Botswana Democratic Party until 2024. As of 2024^[update], Botswana is the least corrupt country in mainland Africa according to the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International.

Botswana's economy has generally experienced stable growth since independence. It is dominated by tourism and mining; Botswana produces more diamonds than any other country. Its gross national income per capita (purchasing power parity) of about $20,158 as of 2024^[update] (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 Botswana’s economic gains, Botswana continues to grapple with high unemployment, severe income inequality, and one of the world's most critical HIV/AIDS epidemics. 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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Mmegi is an English-language national newspaper in Botswana, with occasional articles or comments in Setswana. Established in 1984, it is now published daily online and weekly in print format by Dikgang Publishing House in the capital, Gaborone. Mmegi used to be Botswana's only independent newspaper to be published daily.

The newspaper's name means "the reporter" in Setswana and its strapline is "News we need to know daily". Until 1989, it was called Mmegi wa Dikgang/The Reporter. (Full article...)

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... that Elizabeth Pulane Moremi became regent of baTawana after the death of her husband Moremi III?

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Townsend's big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii

Bats (order Chiroptera /kaɪˈrɒptərə/) are winged mammals, the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, using long, spread-out digits covered with a thin membrane or patagium. The smallest bat, and one of the smallest extant mammals, is Kitti's hog-nosed bat, which is 29–33 mm (1.1–1.3 in) in length, 150 mm (5.9 in) across the forearm and 2 g (0.071 oz) in mass. The largest bats are the flying foxes, with the giant golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) reaching a weight of 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) and having a wingspan of 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in).

The second-largest order of mammals after rodents, bats account for about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide, with at least 1,500 known species. These were traditionally divided into two suborders: the largely fruit-eating megabats and the microbats. But more recent evidence has supported dividing the order into Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera, with megabats as members of the former along with several species of microbats. Many bats are insectivores, and most of the rest are frugivores (fruit-eaters) or nectarivores (nectar-eaters). A few species feed on animals other than insects; for example, the vampire bats are haematophagous (feed on blood). Most bats are nocturnal, and many roost in caves or other refuges; it is uncertain whether bats have these behaviours to escape predators. Bats are distributed globally in almost all regions. They are important in their ecosystems for pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds as well as controlling insect populations. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Gaborone Hindu Temple (from Gaborone)
Image 2An illustration of a Tswana man and his wife in the early 1800s (from History of Botswana)
Image 3Botswana Gaborone I Towers (from Gaborone)
Image 4Kombi (Minibus taxi) (from Gaborone)
Image 5Robert Moffat (1795-1883), Scottish Missionary (from Tswana people)
Image 6Ministry of Health building (from Gaborone)
Image 7Ostriches at Mokolodi Nature Reserve, Botswana (from Gaborone)
Image 84th President of Botswana, King of Bamangwato (Khama IV) (from Tswana people)
Image 9New Construction Developments (from Gaborone)
Image 10Gaborone aerial (from Gaborone)
Image 11Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs building (from Gaborone)
Image 12Road map of Gaborone (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 14Batswana men dressed in traditional attire during the visit of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to Lobatse, Bechuanaland, on 17 April 1947 (from Tswana people)
Image 15A postage stamp circa 1943, the postmark reading "Gaborone's Village" (from Gaborone)
Image 16Ian Khama meeting with William Hague in London (from History of Botswana)
Image 17Tswana Baskets used for storing grain (from Tswana people)
Image 18Universal Plaza building in Gaborone CBD (from Gaborone)
Image 19Street scene near the Main Mall (from Gaborone)
Image 20New CBD (from Gaborone)
Image 21Prehistoric cave paintings at Tsodilo (from History of Botswana)
Image 22King Bathoen II 1947 of Bangwaketse (from Tswana people)
Image 23Francistown Stadium (from Francistown)
Image 2418th Century Tswana Warrior (from Tswana people)
Image 25Young Tswana maiden dressed in Leteisi (from Tswana people)
Image 26A 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 27Setswana traditional house (from Tswana people)
Image 28Rhodesia Railways car at the national museum (from Gaborone)
Image 29Botswana traditional house at the National Museum (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 30I-Towers, Gaborone Central Business District (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 31Francistown Bus Terminal (from Francistown)
Image 32Typical Kgotla setting (from Tswana people)
Image 33Depiction of a Precolonial Homestead in the ancient City of Kaditshwene circa early 1400
Image 34Christ The King Cathedral (from Gaborone)
Image 35I-Tower at Central Business District (from Gaborone)
Image 36CBD Mall (from Gaborone)
Image 37BR Express, the passenger train (from Francistown)
Image 38Duma Boko signing an agreement with the United States in 2025 (from History of Botswana)
Image 39South African politician (from Tswana people)
Image 40The National Assembly of Botswana (from Gaborone)
Image 41SSKI Airport (from Gaborone)
Image 42Mochudi Village in the early 19th century) (from Tswana people)
Image 43 Tswana tribesmen, first Africans to compete at the Olympics (from Tswana people)
Image 44Francistown City Bus and Taxi Rank (from Francistown)
Image 45Botswana traditional baskets (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 46Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) (from Gaborone)
Image 47Quett Masire visiting the United States in 1984 (from History of Botswana)
Image 48Rev. Derek Jones, the first mayor of Gaborone
Image 49Man on donkey herding goats in a dry river bed (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 50Orapa House (from Gaborone)