Yearbook 2008
Botswana. Botswana’s relatively successful economy is based on the world’s largest diamond mining. Previously, however, the raw material was shipped abroad for grinding, marketing and sales, but during the year a new industry was opened with thousands of employees for diamond processing.
Respected President Festus Mogae left office after ten years and was succeeded by his former Vice President Ian Khama, son of the independent Botswana’s country father and first president, Seretse Khama.
The new president decided to intervene in the abuse of alcohol in the country, partly through a drastic increase in the beer tax, which increased the price by 70 percent. The widespread alcohol use leads to serious social and economic problems, according to the president.
The government refused during the year to give a group of bushmen in Kalahari access to water, despite both the diamond mining and tourism industry in the area being allowed to drill for water. The Bushmen were allowed in 2006 after several years of legal battle to stay in their traditional settlements in a wilderness reserve.
Botswana received many refugees from the violence that Robert Mugabe’s regime in neighboring Zimbabwe waged against the opposition there. Botswana was the first African country to formally protest the violence and demanded Mugabe’s departure. President Khama was also alone in boycotting a regional summit in South Africa, to which Mugabe had been invited.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER: Click to see the meanings of 2-letter acronym and abbreviation of BC in general and in geography as Botswana in particular.
Climate
Botswana has a subtropical climate. Overall it is very dry (700mm in the northeast to 250mm in the southwest), with showers from November to April. In winter (May to September) it is absolutely dry. The average temperature in January is 25 ° C and in July 15 ° C.
Is there a shortage of trouble?
There is indeed a shortage of “shortage” in most of Botswana. Shortage means rain in the country’s dominant language, or Setswan, and when much of the country is the Kalahari Desert, water access is a constant concern. To the east of the Zimbabwean border, the landscape is a savannah. Only in the northern part of the country is there sufficient surface water in the Okavango, Chobe and Limpopo rivers. The only forests in the country grow there. The Okavango River flows from Angola via Namibia to Botswana and drains its water into a vast inland estuary. This delta region is one of the richest natural paradises in the world. It is best to explore it by flying a small plane from one destination to another and also folding the sky by boat or canoe. Botswana invests in nature and safari tourism, for which nearly 40 percent of the country is protected in various ways from other activities. The best known of the national parks is Chobe, located at the confluence of the borders of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia.
On the other hand out of trouble is not in Botswana have had little in short supply, if and when pulalla means the currency unit (1 thebeä shortage = 100). Recent decades have been good for Botswana thanks to the income that diamonds and tourism bring. Large diamond discoveries were made in the early 1970s, and together with copper and nickel, diamonds account for nearly 80 percent of exports. Botswana is one of the most prosperous and peaceful states in Africa, known as the Swiss of Africa.
Population 2008
According to Countryaah reports, the population of Botswana in 2008 was 1,986,994, ranking number 147 in the world. The population growth rate was 2.010% yearly, and the population density was 3.5063 people per km2.