Botswana - Tourism and Travel

The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in southern Africa.

It is 224,468 square miles (583,370 square kilometers) in area.

More than half of Botswana is in the Kalahari Desert, the Earth's largest continuous sand surface.

The sand in the Kalahari Desert is red, because of the presence of iron oxide.

The Kalahari Desert is located in the Kalahari Basin, which is part of a concave plateau that makes up most of southern Africa.

There are swamps in the northern Botswana and salt pans in northeastern Botswana.

The Okavango River, also known as the Cubango River, runs through Botswana.

The Okavango Delta in Botswana is one of the largest inland deltas in the world.

At the Okavango Delta, the Okavango River breaks up into numerous channels that feed into the Kalahari desert.

The Zambezi River runs along the border between Botswana and Zambia.

The Limpopo river runs along Botswana's border with South Africa.

Botswana has a tropical climate.

The country is prone to drought.

The capital of Botswana is Gaborone.

1,950,000 people live in Botswana.

Most of them live near the eastern border.

98% of the people are Tswana.

The official language is English. Setswana, Shona, Khoikho, San and isiNdebele are also spoken.

50% of the people have traditional religious beliefs, and 30% are Christian.

Botswana's economy was once based on cattle raising, but mining has become more important.

More than 70 percent of export earnings come from diamonds.

Copper-nickel matte is another important export.

Poor soil quality and cyclical droughts limit agricultural production.

Botswana has a presidential system of government.

The official currency is the pula, which is equal to 100 thebe.