Botswana

Largest cities in Botswana

Famous people from Botswana

• Seretse Khama

  Politics

  First president of Botswana whose interracial marriage defied apartheid-era norms and whose leadership transformed the country from poverty to prosperity

• Ian Khama

  Politics

  Fourth president of Botswana and son of Seretse Khama, known for his strong wildlife conservation stance including anti-poaching military operations

• Unity Dow

  Politics

  First female High Court judge in Botswana, later a novelist and government minister who fought for women's citizenship rights

• Bessie Head

  Literature

  One of Africa's most important English-language novelists, wrote When Rain Clouds Gather and A Question of Power while living in Serowe

• Nigel Amos

  Sport

  Won Olympic silver in the 800 meters at London 2012 at just 18 years old, Botswana's most decorated track athlete

• Amantle Montsho

  Sport

  400-meter World Champion (2011), Botswana's first ever world athletics champion and a national sporting hero

Traditional cuisine of Botswana

Seswaa

Botswana's national dish - beef or goat slow-cooked until tender, then pounded and shredded, served with thick porridge

Bogobe

Thick porridge made from sorghum or millet, the staple carbohydrate at every Botswanan meal

Morogo

Wild spinach and leafy greens cooked with onions and tomatoes, a nutritious side dish foraged from the bush

Vetkoek

Deep-fried dough bread that can be filled with mince, jam, or syrup - a legacy of South African influence

Phane

Mopane worms harvested from mopane trees, dried and cooked with tomatoes and onions - a protein-rich delicacy

Dikgobe

Hearty stew of beans, corn, and samp cooked together, a filling and nutritious everyday meal

Magwinya

Fat cakes - deep-fried dough balls similar to doughnuts, sold at markets and street stalls as a popular snack

Serobe

Tripe and intestines slow-cooked with offal, a traditional dish served at celebrations and family gatherings

Nature and landmarks in Botswana

Okavango DeltaRiver

The world's largest inland delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the Okavango River fans into the Kalahari creating a paradise for wildlife

Chobe National ParkNational Park

Home to the largest concentration of elephants in Africa, with over 50,000 in the park and surrounding areas

Makgadikgadi PansDesert

One of the world's largest salt flats, where flamingos breed after the rains and meerkats stand sentinel year-round

Central Kalahari Game ReserveNational Park

The second largest game reserve in the world at 52,800 square kilometers, home to the indigenous San people and desert-adapted wildlife

Tsodilo HillsLandmark

UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Louvre of the Desert, with over 4,500 rock paintings spanning thousands of years

Moremi Game ReserveNational Park

First reserve in Africa to be established by local residents, covering part of the Okavango Delta with extraordinary wildlife density

Savuti MarshNational Park

Famous wildlife area in Chobe where lions have learned to hunt elephants, one of the great predator-prey spectacles in Africa

Nata Bird SanctuaryNational Park

Seasonal breeding ground for flamingos and pelicans on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans

Sports in Botswana

Football

The Zebras are Botswana's most popular team, competing in AFCON qualifiers and developing through a growing domestic league

Athletics

Olympic and World Championship medalists including 800m silver medalist Nigel Amos and 400m world champion Amantle Montsho

Boxing

Growing boxing scene with competitors at Commonwealth Games and African Championship levels

Did you know?

1. 1

   Botswana went from one of the world's poorest countries at independence (1966) to an upper-middle-income economy in a single generation

2. 2

   The Okavango Delta is the world's largest inland delta - a river that never reaches the sea, instead flooding into the Kalahari Desert

3. 3

   Botswana has more elephants than any other country in Africa, with an estimated population of over 130,000

4. 4

   Diamonds account for about 80% of Botswana's export earnings, making it one of the world's largest diamond producers

5. 5

   Botswana has been a continuous multi-party democracy since independence in 1966, one of the longest-running democracies in Africa

6. 6

   The currency is called the Pula, which means rain in Setswana - reflecting how precious water is in this mostly arid country

7. 7

   The Tsodilo Hills contain ancient rock art, and people have lived in the area for at least 30,000 years

8. 8

   The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is larger than Switzerland and home to the San people, one of the world's oldest indigenous groups

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