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Botswana |
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| Background: |
Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted
its new name upon independence in 1966. The economy, one of the most
robust on the continent, is dominated by diamond mining. |
| Location: |
Southern Africa, north of South Africa |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
22 00 S, 24 00 E |
| Map
references: |
Africa
|
| Area: |
total: 600,370 sq km
water: 15,000 sq km
land: 585,370 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly smaller than Texas |
| Land
boundaries: |
total: 4,013 km
border countries: Namibia 1,360
km, South Africa 1,840 km, Zimbabwe 813 km |
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime
claims: |
none (landlocked) |
| Climate: |
semiarid; warm winters and hot summers |
| Terrain: |
predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest
|
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point: junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers
513 m
highest point: Tsodilo Hills 1,489 m |
| Natural
resources: |
diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver
|
| Land
use: |
arable land: 0.61%
permanent crops: 0.01%
other: 99.38% (1998 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
10 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
periodic droughts; seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying
sand and dust across the country, which can obscure visibility |
| Environment
- current issues: |
overgrazing; desertification; limited fresh water resources |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements |
| Geography
- note: |
landlocked; population concentrated in eastern part of the country
|
| Population: |
1,573,267
note: estimates for this country explicitly take
into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result
in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population
by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 39.5% (male 314,764; female 307,024)
15-64
years: 56% (male 424,726; female 455,967)
65 years and over:
4.5% (male 30,599; female 40,187) (2003 est.) |
| Median
age: |
total: 19.1 years
male: 18.4 years
female:
19.8 years (2002) |
| Population
growth rate: |
-0.55% (2003 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
25.5 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
31 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population:
0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
total: 67.34 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
66.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 68.36 deaths/1,000
live births |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 32.26 years
male: 32.2 years
female: 32.32 years (2003 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
3.27 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)
adjective:
Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural) |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Tswana (or Setswana) 79%, Kalanga 11%, Basarwa 3%, other, including
Kgalagadi and white 7% |
| Religions: |
indigenous beliefs 85%, Christian 15% |
| Languages: |
English (official), Setswana |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total
population: 79.8%
male: 76.9%
female: 82.4%
(2003 est.)
|
| Economy
- overview: |
Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest growth rates since
independence in 1966. Through fiscal discipline and sound management,
Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in
the world to a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $9,500
in 2002. Two major investment services rank Botswana as the best credit
risk in Africa. Diamond mining has fueled much of the expansion and
currently accounts for more than one-third of GDP and for nine-tenths
of export earnings. Tourism, subsistence farming, and cattle raising
are other key sectors. On the downside, the government must deal with
high rates of unemployment and poverty. Unemployment officially is 21%,
but unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%. HIV/AIDS infection
rates are the highest in the world and threaten Botswana's impressive
economic gains. Long-term prospects are overshadowed by the prospects
of a leveling off in diamond mining production. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $15.1 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
6% (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $9,500 (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 44% (including 36%
mining)
services: 52% (2001 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
47% |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
8.1% (2002 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
264,000 formal sector employees (2000) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
NA |
| Unemployment
rate: |
40% (official rate is 21%) (2001 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $2.3 billion
expenditures: $2.4 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY01/02) |
| Industries: |
diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda ash, potash; livestock processing;
textiles |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
2.4% (2001 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
409.8 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other:
0% (2001)
nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
1.564 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
1.183 billion kWh (2001) |
| Oil
- production: |
0 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- consumption: |
16,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- exports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- imports: |
NA (2001) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
livestock, sorghum, maize, millet, beans, sunflowers, groundnuts |
| Exports: |
$2.4 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
diamonds 90%, copper, nickel, soda ash, meat, textiles |
| Exports
- partners: |
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) 87%, Southern African Customs
Union (SACU) 7%, Zimbabwe 4% (2000) |
| Imports: |
$1.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
foodstuffs, machinery, electrical goods, transport equipment, textiles,
fuel and petroleum products, wood and paper products, metal and metal
products |
| Imports
- partners: |
Southern African Customs Union (SACU) 74%, EFTA 17%, Zimbabwe 4% (2000)
|
| Debt
- external: |
$360 million (2002) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$73 million (1995) |
| Currency: |
pula (BWP) |
| Currency
code: |
BWP |
| Exchange
rates: |
pulas per US dollar - 6.3278 (2002), 5.8412 (2001), 5.1018 (2000), 4.6244
(1999), 4.2259 (1998) |
| Fiscal
year: |
1 April - 31 March
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