Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966.

Four decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership, progressive social policies, and significant capital investment have created one of the most dynamic economies in Africa

Mineral extraction, principally diamond mining, dominates economic activity, though tourism is a growing sector due to the country's conservation practices and extensive nature preserves.

Botswana has one of the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection, but also one of Africa's most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with the disease.

Total Land Area: 581,730 sq km Land Area: 566,730 sq km Water Area: 15,000 sq km
Landlocked; Population concentrated in eastern part of the country.

Semiarid Warm winters Hot summers

Natural Resources
Diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver.

Land Use
Arable Land: 0.65% Permanent Crops: 0.01% Other: 99.34% (2005)

Overgrazing Desertification Limited Freshwater Resources

Population: 2,065,398 (July 2011 est.) Age Structure 0-14 years: 33.9% (Male 356,346/Female 343,452) 15-64 years: 62.2% (Male 649,931/Female 634,998) 65 years and over: 3.9% (Male 32,542/Female 48,129)
4% 0-14 years 34% 15-64 years

Total: 22.3 years Male: 22.2 years Female: 22.4 years

Median Age

62%

65 years and over

Birth Rate
22.31 births/1,000 population

Death Rate
10.57 deaths/1,000 population

Net Migration Rate

4.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Urban Population 61% of total population (2010) Rate of Urbanization 2.3% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

Total: 11.14 deaths/1,000 live births Male: 11.76 deaths/1,000 live births Female: 10.51 deaths/1,000 live births

Total Fertility Rate

2.5 children born/woman

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Population: 58.05 years Male: 58.78 years Female: 57.3 years

Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Legal System
Mixed legal system of civil law influenced by the Roman-Dutch model and also customary and common law.

Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest economic growth rates since independence in 1966, though growth fell below 5% in 2007-08, and turned sharply negative in 2009, with industry falling nearly 30%. Botswana transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $13,100 in 2010.

Diamond mining has fueled much of the expansion and currently accounts for more than one-third of GDP, 70-80% of export earnings, and about half of the government's revenues.

Tourism, financial services, subsistence farming, and cattle raising are other key sectors. Although unemployment was 7.5% in 2007 according to official reports, unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is second highest in the world and threatens Botswana's impressive economic gains.

GDP (Real Growth Rate) 12th

2010 - 8.6% 2009 - 3.7% 2008 - 3.1%

GDP (Purchasing Parity Power) 110

2010 - $28.49 billion 2009 - $26.24 billion 2008 - $27.24 billion

th

GDP (Per Capita) 84th

2010 - $14,000 2009 - $13,200 2008 - $14,000

GDP (Composition by Sector)

Agriculture: 2.3% Industry: 45.8% Services: 51.9%

Labor Force
685,300 formal sector employees (2007)

Unemployment Rate
7.5% (2007 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line

30.3% (2003)

Investment (Gross Fixed)

28.2% of GDP (2010 est.)

Budget
Revenues: $4.165 billion Expenditures: $5.888 billion (2010 est.)

Public Debt
22.6% of GDP (2010 est.) 18.6% of GDP (2009 est.

Inflation Rate
7.1% (2010 est.) 8.1% (2009 est.)

Agriculture
Livestock, sorghum, maize, millet, beans, sunflowers, groundnuts

Industries
Diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver; livestock processing; textiles.

Export (Commodities)
Diamonds, copper, nickel, soda ash, meat, textiles

Exports
2010 - $4.419 billion 2009 - $3.385 billion

Export Partners
United Kingdom - 85.8% Zimbabwe - 2.6% USA - 0.2% (2001 est.)

Import (Commodities)
Foodstuffs, machinery, electrical goods, transport equipment, textiles, fuel and petroleum products, wood and paper products, metal and metal products

Imports
2010 - $4.518 billion 2009 -$4.243 billion

Import Partners
United Kingdom - 4.4% Zimbabwe - 3.1% USA - 1.7% South Korea

A Brief History

Originally home to the indigenous San peoples, they were displaced by migrating Tswana in the 17th century. The Batswana, a term used to denote all citizens of Botswana, refers to the countrys major ethnic group (the Tswana in South Africa), which came into the area from South Africa during the Zulu wars of the early 1800s.

Prior to European contact, the Batswana lived as herders and farmers under tribal rule. In 1885, under the urging of Cecil Rhodes, the region became the Bechuanaland Protectorate, held by the British against incursions by Boers and Germans. Independence was achieved in 1966.

Much of arid Botswana is sparsely populated.

1867 European gold prospectors arrive, mining begins.

1885 British proclaim a protectorate called Bechuanaland. 1890 British protectorate is extended to Chobe river. 1950 Chief of the Ngwato, Seretse Khama, is deposed and exiled by the British.

1952 Rioters protest at Seretse Khamas exile. 1959 Copper mines are established. 1960 Bechuanaland Peoples Party (BPP) is established. 1960 December Britain approves new constitution for Bechuanaland. Executive Council, Legislative Council, and African Council are established. 1961 Seretse Khama appointed to Executive Council.

1962 - Seretse Khama founds Bechuanaland Democratic Party (BDP), later to become Botswana Democratic Party. 1965 - Gaborone becomes administrative centre.

1965 - BDP wins legislative elections, first to be held under universal adult suffrage. Seretse Khama becomes prime minister.

Independence

1966 September - Bechuanaland is granted independence and becomes Republic of Botswana with Seretse Khama as president.

1967 - Diamonds discovered at Orapa.

1969 August - BDP wins general election. Khama is re-elected for another term. 1977 January - UN Security Council resolution demands Rhodesian hostilities on Botswana border cease.

1977 March - Botswana Defence Force is established. 1979 October - General elections: BDP wins majority, Khama is re-elected as president. 1980 - Botswana is founder member of Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), grouping which aims to reduce region's economic reliance on South Africa. 1980 - President Seretse Khama dies. Quett Masire, former vice-president, is made president after National Assembly vote.

1984 September - General elections: BDP wins majority, Quett Masire is re-elected as president. 1985 June - Buildings in Gaborone are raided and 12 people are killed by South African forces seeking alleged ANC members. Action is condemned by UN Security Council. 1989 October - General elections; BDP wins majority. National Assembly re-elects Masire as president. 1991 - 12,000 public sector workers sacked after strike action calling for increased wages.

1994 October - Legislative elections: BDP secures 53% of vote. Masire re-elected by National Assembly. 1995 - Government begins relocating thousands of bushmen to settlements outside Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

1997 - Constitutional amendments approved. Presidency is limited to two five-year terms. Voting age lowered from 21 to 18.

1998 March/April - Masire resigns as president and retires. Festus Mogae, formerly vice president, becomes president under new constitutional arrangements. 1998 June - Botswana Congress Party established after split in BNF and is declared official opposition after most BNF deputies switch allegiance. 1999 September - Six-day state of emergency declared to resolve voter registration problem.

1999 October - General elections: BDP wins majority, Festus Mogae is confirmed as president. 1999 December - International Court of Justice grants control of Sedudu-Kasikili - a river island disputed by Botswana and Namibia - to Botswana. 2000 February/March - Devastating floods: More than 60,000 are made homeless. 2000 August - President Mogae says Aids drugs will be made available free of charge from 2001.

2001 March - National diamond corporation, Debswana, says it will subsidise drugs for workers with Aids. 2002 March - Kalahari bushmen take the government to court to challenge a forced eviction from their land; the case is dismissed on a technicality. 2003 September - Botswana begins erecting a fence along its border with Zimbabwe to stem an influx of Zimbabwean illegal immigrants. 2004 March - HIV infection rate falls to 37.5%; Botswana no longer has the world's highest rate of infection.

2004 August - Workers at Botswana's largest diamond-mining company strike over pay, after a court rules that such action is illegal. Some 1,000 workers are sacked. 2004 October - President Mogae secures a second term in a landslide election victory. 2006 December - A group of Bushmen wins a fouryear legal battle to hold on to their ancestral lands. 2008 March - Botswana launches its own diamond trading company - the Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB).

2008 April - Seretse Khama Ian Khama takes over as president. 2008 October - Botswana's former President Festus Mogae wins a $5m prize set up to encourage good governance in Africa. 2009 April - Botswana says it will halve diamond production because of falling demands for gems. 2009 October - Ruling BDP party wins elections, and another 5-year term for President Khama. 2009 November - Botswana stages a substantial economic recovery after stepping up diamond production again, a bank reports.

2010 November - Human rights group Survival International calls for a boycott of Botswanan diamonds, accusing the government of trying to force Basarwa bushmen away from their ancestral lands.

2011 January - An appeals court in Botswana overturns a July 2010 order depriving the indigenous Basarwa bushmen of the right to drill for water on their ancestral land.
2011 April - Civil servants begin what becomes a two-month strike over pay.

Health Unemployment Education Child Welfare and Growth Crime Governance and Public Administration

Botswana has been hard hit by AIDS. In 2009 there were an estimated 300,000 adults living with HIV - or one quarter of the population aged 15 and over. The country has an estimated adult HIV prevalence among 15-49 year olds of 24.8%, the second highest in the world after Swaziland.

HIV and AIDS has had a devastating impact on Botswana. Life expectancy at birth fell from 65 years in 1990-1995 to less than 40 years in 2000-2005, a figure about 28 years lower than it would have been without AIDS.

The loss of adults in their productive years has serious economic implications, with families being pushed into poverty through the costs of HIV and AIDS medical care, loss of income, and funerals.
The economic output of Botswana has been reduced by the loss of workers and skills; agriculture and mining are among the worst affected sectors.

Botswana's first AIDS case was reported in 1985. The country's response to the emerging HIV and AIDS epidemic can be divided into the following stages: The early stage (1987-89) focused mainly on the screening of blood to eliminate the risk of HIV transmission through blood transfusion. The second stage (1989-97), and the first Medium Term Plan (MTP), saw the introduction of information, education and communication programmes, but the response was still quite narrowly focused. During this stage, in 1993, the Government adopted the Botswana National Policy on AIDS. During the third stage (1997-2002), the response to HIV/AIDS was expanded in many different directions to include education, prevention and comprehensive care including the provision of antiretroviral treatment. Since 2003, a national multi-sectoral framework has guided the response, coordinated by the National AIDS Co-ordinating Agency.

Botswana became the first African country to aim to provide antiretroviral drugs to all its needy citizens. The success of this treatment programme has made Botswana an example for other African nations to follow.

HIV Incidence Rate Ages 15-49 (%)

Number of New Infection All Ages

Annual Number of AIDS Death

Tuberculosis
TB is associated with HIV and AIDS, being one of the main opportunistic infections in those who are HIV-positive. After many years of decline, TB notifications started rising in the early 1990s, and increased from 200 (per 100,000 population) in 1990 to 620 in 2002.

Malaria
Botswana does not have as serious a malaria problem as many other African countries, due to its high elevation, low rainfall, lack of surface water and cold winters, as well as a successful malaria control programme. The death rate from malaria is low, with 40 deaths in 1999 and 4 in 2002.

One of the key reforms to national health policy that took place during NDP 9 was a paradigm shift -- the re-orientation of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programme to a more comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) programme.

It does not manifestly address gender equity and equality issues.

Responding appropriately to the countrys changing demographic profile; Prioritizing disease programmes (notably between HIV and AIDS and other serious diseases) Appropriate resource allocation between PHC and hospital based services; 17 Focusing on improving the quality of health service provision Harmonizing the current range of health sector policies and strategies into an integrated health policy Developing a long-term cost-sharing strategy;

Health information: improving the information relating to both resource use and allocation (e.g. HIV and AIDS vs other diseases; PHC vs hospital care) and health outcomes; Improving the referral system, reducing distances and delays between primary, secondary and tertiary facilities; Health education, including interventions with traditional healers and religious groups to build on positive practices and discourage negative ones.

Botswanas education policy has focused on achieving universal access to primary education, and more recently on providing ten years of universal education. Primary enrolment has risen to very high levels. In the Net Enrolment Rate (NER), the 7-13 age group increased from 96.7 in 1995 to 98.5 in 2004.

Data from the 2003 Literacy Survey suggest that non-attendance at school is very low of 10-11 years olds, only 0.6% had never attended school, while among 12- 14 year olds the figure was 1.1%. Although enrolment rates are high it is important that children stay at school once enrolled. Of the students enrolled for (primary) standard one in 1998, only 79% had progressed to standard seven in 2004.

In secondary schools, the progression rate has generally been improving. The rate of progression from form one to form five has increased from 30% in 1996 to 42% in 2004.
Female enrolment matches or exceeds male enrolment at all levels of education (primary, secondary and tertiary) except vocational training.

Females continue to be the backbone of education sector, accounting for 64.8% of the total employees, however, their participation varies across levels and types of education. Education spending has consistently accounted for the largest single share of government spending, at around 25% of the total. A policy of cost sharing through the imposition of fees has recently been introduced for secondary education, whereby parents pay 5% of the cost to government.

While the overall level of education spending is high and headline indicators are good, concerns remain regarding educational outcomes The reintroduction of school fees at secondary level may inhibit secondary school attendance, particularly by children from poor families.

The level of youth unemployment indicates that education is not sufficiently preparing school leavers for the world of work.

High education spending levels suggest that the problem is not overall availability of resources, but the allocation of resources across education sectors and the efficiency with which those resources are used

Secondary school fees were re-introduced in January 2006 and have inevitably generated some controversy. There is concern that some children will be dissuaded from attending school and therefore that the broader objectives of raising secondary enrolment would be undermined. Besides the objective of partial cost-recovery, the measure was intended to instill a sense of responsibility among students and parents towards the education system and education facilities

Fees per child were set at P300 a year for Junior Secondary and P450 a year for Senior Secondary schools. Exemptions are given to children from destitute families, orphans, students in need of care and registered with the Social Welfare Services, and students whose parents are terminally ill and incapable of caring for the student materially.

Data from the Ministry of Education show that the payment record is patchy. Nationally, some 20% of students have been exempted from paying fees.

No households are recorded as having a head aged under 12. Nationally, 0.8% of households have heads aged 12-14 (with twice as many males as females as heads), and 3.5% have heads aged 15-19. While the total number of households with heads aged 12-14 and 15-19 is relatively small 3 133 and 14 349 respectively out of 404 705 households in total this is an issue that needs to be monitored and action taken where possible, as there is a high chance that these households will be in poverty.

The Census also provides information on the occupation of children aged over 12. Approximately three quarters of those aged 12-19 are in school or other educational institutions (91% of those aged 12-14 and 66% of 15-19 year olds). A further 6.3% are employed, 5.6% are unemployed, and 11.9% are home-makers.

Females are more likely to be in school than males in the 12-15 age group, but the situation is reversed in the 15-19 age group, where nearly 20% of females are home-makers.

According to the survey, 6.9% of 7-13 year-olds and 12.5% of 14-17 year-olds were employed at the time of the survey. Definition of employment in the LFS only requires the respondent to have worked for one hour or more in the week prior to the survey, whereas the Census considers primary use of time. Indeed, the LFS confirms that of the 38 375 recorded children who were working, the majority (80%) were also attending school. Some 3.5% of children aged 717 were working and not attending school, almost all in the 14-17 year age group.

Crime disrupts economic activity, increases costs, reduces hours of business for some and drives others out of business completely, and therefore slows down job creation. SMMEs and farmers may be especially affected but so will FDI.

The most comprehensive study on violence against women to date (Womens Affairs Department, 1999) noted the key types of violence against women as: rape, assault, emotional and financial violence, incest, defilement, sexual harassment and femicide.

Supporting policy and institutional reforms, and capacity development, towards achieving high and sustainable rates of economic growth and diversifying the economy, especially in the areas of trade, investment, entrepreneurship and tourism Assistance with gender mainstreaming in economic policy and advising on gender sensitive budgets that are essential for ensuring that the needs of females and males are incorporated at all levels of economic development planning and implementation.

Social achievements have been impressive, although there have been setbacks as a result of HIV and AIDS. Nevertheless there are weaknesses in relation to the updating and integration of different policies; the need for improved data and information systems; and ensuring efficient allocation and use of social sector resources.

Ensuring that the rights and special needs of the youth are met through appropriate policies and interventions, given that they are particularly vulnerable in the context of high unemployment and high prevalence of HIV and are a key constituency in the prevention of the further spread of HIV; Assisting in achieving more productive education expenditure and improved results for the very high level of resources devoted to education in Botswana;

Inclusive participation/civic engagement at all levels (electoral laws, institutions and processes, mobilization channels, communications channels to enhance public policy dialogues and decision making; Establishing and improving monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to continuously assess opportunities and challenges;