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% 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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Botswana has competed in 12 Summer Olympic Games since its debut in 1980. The nation has never participated in the Winter Olympic Games.

Botswana won its inaugural medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Nijel Amos getting a silver in the 800m. The men's 4 × 400 relay team won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. (Full article...)

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... that Ditshwanelo has been campaigning for over twenty years against capital punishment in Botswana?

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

Male African leopard in Maasai Mara National Reserve

The leopard (Panthera pardus) is one of the five extant cat species in the genus Panthera. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular, reaching a length of 92–183 cm (36–72 in) with a 66–102 cm (26–40 in) long tail and a shoulder height of 60–70 cm (24–28 in). Males typically weigh 30.9–72 kg (68–159 lb), and females 20.5–43 kg (45–95 lb).

The leopard was first described in 1758, and several subspecies were proposed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, eight subspecies are recognised in its wide range in Africa and Asia. It initially evolved in Africa during the Early Pleistocene, before migrating into Eurasia around the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition. Leopards were formerly present across Europe, but became extinct in the region at around the end of the Late Pleistocene-early Holocene. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Road map of Gaborone (from Gaborone)
Image 2A postage stamp circa 1943, the postmark reading "Gaborone's Village" (from Gaborone)
Image 3Gaborone Hindu Temple (from Gaborone)
Image 4Universal Plaza building in Gaborone CBD (from Gaborone)
Image 5New Construction Developments (from Gaborone)
Image 6BR Express, the passenger train (from Francistown)
Image 7Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs building (from Gaborone)
Image 818th Century Tswana Warrior (from Tswana people)
Image 9Magadi (traditional wedding) (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 10Setswana traditional house (from Tswana people)
Image 11Batswana 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 12Flag of Bophuthatswana (from Tswana people)
Image 13A road in Gaborone (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 14Young Tswana maiden dressed in Leteisi (from Tswana people)
Image 15Botswana Gaborone I Towers (from Gaborone)
Image 16Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) (from Gaborone)
Image 17New CBD (from Gaborone)
Image 18Botswana traditional house at the National Museum (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 19Ostriches at Mokolodi Nature Reserve, Botswana (from Gaborone)
Image 20Tswana Baskets used for storing grain (from Tswana people)
Image 21Francistown City Bus and Taxi Rank (from Francistown)
Image 22South African ANC activist, writer and author, (from Tswana people)
Image 23South African billionaire mining businessman, CAF President (from Tswana people)
Image 24Robert Moffat (1795-1883), Scottish Missionary (from Tswana people)
Image 25Festus Mogae alongside foreign presidents Joaquim Chissano, George W. Bush, and José Eduardo dos Santos in 2002 (from History of Botswana)
Image 26Typical Kgotla setting (from Tswana people)
Image 27Gaborone aerial (from Gaborone)
Image 28King Bathoen II 1947 of Bangwaketse (from Tswana people)
Image 29Depiction of a Precolonial Homestead in the ancient City of Kaditshwene circa early 1400
Image 30Gaborone Hindu temple (from Gaborone)
Image 31Prehistoric cave paintings at Tsodilo (from History of Botswana)
Image 32Ministry of Health building (from Gaborone)
Image 33Botswana traditional baskets (from Culture of Botswana)
Image 34View from Kgale Hill (Oodi Hill on horizon) (from Gaborone)
Image 35Quett Masire visiting the United States in 1984 (from History of Botswana)
Image 36Rev. Derek Jones, the first mayor of Gaborone
Image 37I-Tower at Central Business District (from Gaborone)
Image 38Mokgweetsi Masisi speaking at a conference on the illegal wildlife trade in London in 2018 (from History of Botswana)
Image 39Orapa House (from Gaborone)
Image 40Rail network map of Botswana (from Economy of Botswana)
Image 41Satellite view of Gaborone. North is to the left of the image. (from Gaborone)
Image 42Room 52 Roof Top Restaurant (from Gaborone)
Image 43 Tswana tribesmen, first Africans to compete at the Olympics (from Tswana people)
Image 44Tebogo Letsile, the 2024 Summer Olympics 200 metres gold medalist (from Tswana people)
Image 45Street scene near the Main Mall (from Gaborone)
Image 46Bechuanaland Boys cleaning Aa Guns in the Twilight after Action, Syracuse, Sicily, 1944 art piece by Leslie Cole (from History of Botswana)
Image 474th President of Botswana, King of Bamangwato (Khama IV) (from Tswana people)
Image 48Christ The King Cathedral (from Gaborone)
Image 49An illustration of a Tswana man and his wife in the early 1800s (from History of Botswana)
Image 50Man on donkey herding goats in a dry river bed (from Economy of Botswana)