Facts about Botswana
Botswana puts a premium on economic and political integration in Southern Africa.
Botswana's impressive economic record has been built on the foundation of using revenue generated from diamond mining to fuel economic development through prudent fiscal policies and a cautious foreign policy.
Botswana is the setting for the popular mystery series written by Alexander McCall-Smith, The No.
Botswana is bordered by South Africa to the south, Namibia to the west, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast.
Botswana is currently also negotiating a free-trade agreement with Mercosur and an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union as part of SADC.
Despite continued challenges such as small market size, landlocked location, and cumbersome bureaucratic processes, Botswana remains one of the best investment opportunities in the developing world.
Botswana seeks to further diversify its economy away from minerals, which account for a third of GDP, down from nearly half of GDP in the early 1990s.
Botswana abolished foreign exchange controls in 1999, has a low corporate tax rate (15 percent), no prohibitions on foreign ownership of companies, and a moderate inflation rate.
Botswana has diverse areas of wildlife habitat, including the Okavango Delta, the Kalahari Desert, grasslands, and savannas.
Following South Africa's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Botswana also joined; many of the SACU duties are thus declining, making products from outside the area more competitive in Botswana.
Another source of friction is Namibia's desire to pump water from the Okavango River, which would divert it from the delta whose wildlife is a main tourist attraction for Botswana.
At the Tsodilo Hills site in Botswana there is one of the highest concentrations of rock art in the world, classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
About a thousand years ago, large chiefdoms emerged that were later eclipsed by the Great Zimbabwe Empire, which spread into eastern Botswana.
Botswana joins the African consensus on most major international matters and is a member of international organizations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the African Union.
Poverty and high unemployment are other obstacles that need to be overcome if Botswana is to emerge victorious as a nation.
The conquered tribes began to move northwest into Botswana, destroying everything in their path.
Botswana is ranked as by far the best credit risk in Africa.
Botswana has taken in economic and political refugees from Zimbabwe, and tension exists in border areas where the newcomers compete for scarce jobs.
The Batswana (plural of "Motswana"), a term also used to denote all citizens of Botswana, remain the country's major ethnic group today.
The World Economic Forum rates Botswana as one of the two most economically competitive nations in Africa.
Debswana, the only diamond mining company operating in Botswana, is 50 percent owned by the government and generates about half of all government revenues.
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked nation in Southern Africa that is considered one of the most stable economically and politically on the continent.
Botswana is a representative democratic republic where the president is elected by the National Assembly.
The Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), comprising Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa, dates from 1910 and is the world’s oldest customs union.