semiarid; warm winters and hot summersTerrain:
predominately flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest
Natural resources:
diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda, ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver,
natural gas
Land use:
urable land 2%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 75%; forest and
woodland 2%; other 21%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
rains in early 1988 broke six years of drought that had severely affected
the important cattle industry; overgazing; desertification
Note:
landlocked
:Botswana People
Population:
1,292,210 (July 1992), growth rate 2.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
35 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
8 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
42 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
59 years male, 65 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
4.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun and ajective - Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)
Ethnic divisions:
Batswana 95%; Kalanga, Basarwa, and Kgalagadi about 4%; white about 1%
Religions:
indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 50%
Languages:
English (official), Setswana
Literacy:
23% (male 32%, female 16%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
400,000; 198,500 formal sector employees, most others are engaged in cattle
raising and subsistence agriculture (1990 est.); 14,600 are employed in
various mines in South Africa (1990)
Organized labor:
19 trade unions
:Botswana Government
Long-form name:
Republic of Botswana
Type:
parliamentary republic
Capital:
Gaborone
Administrative divisions:
10 districts: Central, Chobe, Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Kgatleng, Kweneng,
Ngamiland, North-East, South-East, Southern; note - in addition, there may
now be 4 town councils named Francistown, Gaborone, Lobaste Selebi-Pikwe
Independence:
30 September 1966 (from UK; formerly Bechuanaland)
Constitution:
March 1965, effective 30 September 1966
Legal system:
based on Roman-Dutch law and local customary law; judicial review limited to
matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Independence Day, 30 September (1966)
Executive branch:
president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Assembly consists of an upper house or House of Chiefs
and a lower house or National Assembly
Judicial branch:
High Court, Court of Appeal
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President Quett K. J. MASIRE (since 13 July 1980); Vice President Peter S.
MMUSI (since 3 January 1983)
Political parties and leaders:
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Quett MASIRE; Botswana National Front
(BNF), Kenneth KOMA; Boswana People's Party (BPP), Knight MARIPE; Botswana
Independence Party (BIP), Motsamai MPHO
Suffrage:
universal at age 21
Elections:
National Assembly:
last held 7 October 1989 (next to be held October 1994); results - percent
of vote by party NA; seats - (38 total, 34 elected) BDP 35, BNF 3
President:
last held 7 October 1989 (next to be held October 1994); results - President
Quett K. J. MASIRE was reelected by the National Assembly
Communists:
no known Communist organization; Kenneth KOMA of BNF has long history of
Communist contacts
Member of:
ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, SACU, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation:
