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Botswana
Area: 581,730 sq. kilometres
Population: 1.8 million (2006 estimate)
Capital City: Gaborone, population 250,000 (2004)
People: Predominantly Bantu-speaking African (ca 90% of whom are Tswana), small San communities and white minorities
Languages: English and Setswana
Religion(s): Christianity and indigenous beliefs
Currency: Pula. 12.53 - £1 (Feb 07)
Political parties: Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Botswana National Front (BNF), Botswana Congress Party (BCP)
Head of State: President Festus Gontebanye Mogae
Foreign Minister: Lt Gen (Retd) Mompati Merafhe
Membership of international groupings/organisations: United Nations, Commonwealth, Southern African Development Community (SADC), African Union (AU), Non Aligned Movement (NAM), Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Botswana is also a member of the implementation committee of NEPAD.
GEOGRAPHY
Botswana is a landlocked country situated in southern Africa. It shares borders with Namibia in the west and north, Zambia in the north, Zimbabwe in the north-east and South Africa in the east and south. The climate ranges from semi-arid to sub-tropical. The Kalahari Desert dominates southern and western Botswana; the extreme south-west experiences near desert conditions, while eastern Botswana, though prone to drought, has adequate rainfall to support arable farming.
HISTORY
In common with many of their neighbours, the Tswana suffered greatly from Nguni and Afrikaner incursions in the mid 19th century, leading to the establishment of a British Protectorate in 1885. Coveted in turn by the early Boer republics, by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company and then by South Africa, Bechuanaland ('Bechuana' is synologous with 'Batswana') has often trod a narrow path between its neighbours' political, military and economic ambitions. Lack of infrastructure within the Protectorate led to it being governed from nearby Mafeking (now Mafikeng) in the adjacent Bechuanaland Crown Colony, which was incorporated into South Africa in 1910. The adoption of apartheid in South Africa in 1948 effectively ended its prospects of incorporating the Protectorate, which instead achieved independence as Botswana in 1966.
The BDP won the first elections, held in 1965 in advance of independence, and its leader, Seretse Khama, was appointed president. The BDP has won all eight elections (each one free and fair) since independence. In spite of the country's vulnerability to economic coercion (albeit somewhat alleviated by the discovery and exploitation of diamonds from the late 60s), and occasional military attack by Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa, Khama was a staunch critic of his white minority-ruled neighbours. Botswana's stance and 'front-line' status meant that, notwithstanding the BDP's political and economic conservatism, the country developed friendly (if perhaps slightly formal) relations with its more radical neighbours.
POLITICS
The constitution provides for the appointment of the president by parliament from its members, rather than election by popular vote. This is a subject of current controversy, especially since there are four MPs' seats in the gift of the majority parliamentary party. There is also a House of Chiefs.
Seretse Khama died in 1980 and was replaced by Ketumile Masire, who stepped down in favour of Festus Mogae in 1998. Seretse Khama's son, Lt Gen (Retd) Ian Khama, is currently vice-president, and will almost certainly be BDP's choice for president should it win the next legislative elections scheduled for October 2009 . BDP governments have been notably technocratic – both Masire and Mogae were ministers of finance, and the latter was a professional economist – which has contributed to sound fiscal policies.
The last national elections were held on 30 October 2004. The BDP took 44 of the 57 available seats, the Botswana National Front (BNF)12 and the BCP one (although a first-past-the-post system caused loss of representation, and the BDP did not take as big a share of the popular vote as these figures indicate). Opposition politics in Botswana have been crippled by factionalism. There is an increasing realisation that the monolithic BDP can only be effectively challenged by some sort of electoral pact although recent attempts to form an oppsition alliance have failed. Rapid urbanisation has meant that an increasing proportion of the electorate are detached from the conservative mores of rural society upon which BDP draws many of its values. The opposition parties' urban support base means they tend to advocate more radical policies, especially in government spending.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Botswana has a generally good human rights record, consistent with its reputation for democratic and constitutional governance, although the fate of the San communities attracts international scrutiny. Most recently this has included a high-profile legal battle over the relocation of San communities from the Kalahari. Although the government accepted a High Court ruling in the Sans’ favour, it is not obliged to provide services to bushmen living in the game reserve. The government's public position is that San communities must accept a degree of disruption and dislocation if they are to benefit from the country's development. At the other extreme is the opinion - championed by Survival International – that their traditional way of life should be preserved. More moderate opinion emphasises the individual human rights of the San communities (including language and culture), rather than the preservation of a particular lifestyle.
Botswana's creditable record has not spared it from criticism on other human rights issues, such as the maintenance of the death penalty.
ECONOMY
Basic economic facts
GDP: US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$11.2 billion (2006 estimate)
GDP per head: US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$ 6,222 (2006)
GDP Growth: 4.7% (2006)
Inflation: 11.5% (2006)
Major Industries: Diamonds, copper, nickel, beef and tourism
Major trading partners: EU and fellow members of the Southern Africa Customs Union comprising South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland
Botswana's economy is sustained by diamonds, which account for 30% of GDP. Over the last three decades Botswana has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world, albeit from a low base, sustained by fiscal discipline and sound management. But diamonds are a finite resource, and the need for economic diversification is one of the government's most pressing economic challenges. Botswana is notably free of corruption, ranked the least corrupt country in Africa by Transparency International, and the 25th least corrupt country in the world.
DEVELOPMENT
Sound economic policies and diamond revenue have made Botswana a middle income country, having been one of the poorest countries in the world at the end of the 1960s. But this does not mean that the country is without critical developmental challenges. Chief among these is the incidence of HIV/AIDS, often estimated to be over 30% of the population, (although this figure is disputed).
Because of Botswana's status, the Department for International Development withdrew from a traditional bilateral assistance relationship with them in 2004/05 and instead contributes to Botswana's development through work with multilateral agencies and through a programme of regional initiatives, including HIV/AIDS and trade.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Botswana has good relations with its neighbours, and with the international community. A long-standing border dispute with Namibia over the Kasikili/Sedudu islands (in the Chobe river and submerged during the rainy season) was resolved in 1999. Botswana hosts refugees from both Namibia and Zimbabwe, an occasional source of friction with these countries. This has been exacerbated recently by the deepening economic crisis in Zimbabwe. For historical reasons Botswana has a close relationship with China.
Botswana is the current host of the SADC secretariat, and will also host the multi-national regional stand-by brigade which will be SADC's contribution to African peace-keeping. Botswana supplied troops to the UN in Somalia (UNOSOM) and Mozambique, and participated in the SADC intervention in Lesotho in 1998. Although well-equipped and well-trained, the Botswana Defence Force's participation in such operations is currently limited by financial constraints.
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