Botswana :: essays research papers

BotswanaBotswana is a landlocked country in southern Africa, roughly the size ofTexas. It covers 224,607 squargon miles, yet contains only 1,444,000 people, make it one the most thinly populated countries in Africa. The eastern portionis where most people reside, because the Kalahari Desert covers almost all therest of the nation. Botswanas climate is a semiarid one, consisting of very hotsummers, and warm winters. Flat and rolling land make up the topography ofBotswana, with the Kalahari in the southwest.There ar several major ethnical groups in Botswana. Most Botswanans areblack Africans called Tswana, and the largest group of the Tswana are theBamangwato. The Bamangwato make up almost one third of Botswanas population.The majority of the Tswana are farmers. There are also about 10,000 of the Sanpeople, or Bushmen. Some San are hunter-gatherers, and some are farmers.Several thousand whites are also included in Botswanas population. Most are ofBritish descent. Most whites earn mor e money then the blacks, and this causessome racial tension. Although English is the official language of Botswana, mostpeople speak Setswana, a Bantu language. Eighty-five percent of Botswanaspeople practice traditional African religions, while the rest are Christian.Most Botswanan children attend elementary school, nevertheless only fifteen percent willgo on to high school. The small percent of people that go to college attend theUniversity of Botswana in Gaborone, the nations capital.Great Britain once had control over Botswana. South Africa wantedBotswana, then called Bechuanaland, as part of their country. But Great Britainrefused. On September 30,1966, Botswana was declared independent. Its officialname is The nation of Botswana. Seretse Khama became the nations firstpresident.Some of Botswanas chief resources are diamonds,copper,nickel, and salt.The economy of Botswana was based on cattle and crop raising, but now diamondmining is controlling the economy, disdain a 25 perc ent unemployment rate due toslow diamond sales in 1994. In 1994, Botswana made 1.8 billion dollars inexports of diamonds,copper, nickel, and meat. Botswana has its own cashthe pula. One pula is equal to about 1.8 U.