Portal:Botswana
IntroBotswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory 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. It is essentially the nation-state of the Tswana people, who constitute nearly 80 percent of the population. The Tswana 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, although the Botswana Democratic Party was the only ruling party from independence until 2024. As of 2024[update], Botswana is the third-least corrupt country in Africa, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International. The economy is dominated by mining and tourism. Botswana has a per capita GDP (purchasing power parity) of about $20,158 as of 2024[update]. Botswana is the world's biggest diamond-producing country. Its relatively high gross national income per capita (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 this, Botswana continues to grapple with high unemployment rates. 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...)
Selected article -Mmegi is an English-language national newspaper in Botswana, with occasional articles or comments in Setswana. Established in 1984, it is now published daily online and weekly in print format by Dikgang Publishing House in the capital, Gaborone. Mmegi used to be Botswana's only independent newspaper to be published daily. The newspaper's name means "the reporter" in Setswana and its strapline is "News we need to know daily". Until 1989, it was called Mmegi wa Dikgang/The Reporter. (Full article...) Did you know -... that during his stay at the Kolobeng Mission, David Livingstone wrote in his memoir that the soil temperature in the sun at noon reached 134 °F (57 °C)? This is a good article, A-class article, featured list, or featured article, one of Wikipedia’s best work.
The blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest species of duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspecies are identified. The blue duiker reaches 32–41 centimetres (13–16 in) at the shoulder and weighs 3.5–9 kilograms (7.7–19.8 lb). Sexually dimorphic, the females are slightly larger than the males. The dark tail measures slightly above 10 centimetres (3.9 in). It has short, spiky horns, around 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long and hidden in hair tufts. The subspecies show a great degree of variation in their colouration. The blue duiker bears a significant resemblance to Maxwell's duiker. Activity is diurnal (limited to daytime). Secretive and cautious, the blue duiker confines itself to the forest fringes. Territorial, individuals of opposite sexes form pairs and occupy territories, nearly 0.4–0.8 hectares (0.0015–0.0031 sq mi) large and marked by preorbital gland secretions. The blue duiker feeds on fallen fruits, foliage, flowers and pieces of bark, provided mainly by the forest canopies in their habitat. The age when sexual maturity is gained has been given differently by different studies. The species is monogamous, with pairs remaining together throughout the year. The length of the gestational period has been estimated from as little as four months to as long as seven months. Births occur throughout the year, though the birth rate might fall in the dry season. The calf is mainly kept in hiding and weaning occurs at 2.5 to 3 months. (Full article...) General images -The following are images from various Botswana-related articles on Wikipedia.
Related portalsOther South African countriesReligion in BotswanaBotswana-related articlesCategoriesSelect [►] to view subcategories
Associated WikimediaThe following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
|