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Botswana is a land-locked country
dominated in geographical terms by the Kalahari
Desert - a sand-filled basin averaging 1,100 metres
above sea level. The country lies between longitudes
20 and 30 degrees east of Greenwich and between the
latitudes 18 and 27 degrees approximately south of
the Equator.
 Botswana is bordered by Zambia
and Zimbabwe to the northeast, Namibia to the north
and west, and South Africa to the south and
southeast. At Kazungula, four countries - Botswana,
Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia - meet at a single
point mid-stream in the Zambezi River.
Although Botswana has no mountain
ranges to speak of, the almost uniformly flat
landscape is punctuated occasionally by low hills,
especially along the southeastern boundary and in
the far northwest. Botswana's highest point is
1,491m Otse Mountain near Lobatse, but the three
major peaks of the Tsodilo Hills, in the country's
northwestern corner, are more dramatic.
The country is situated in the
southern African region and about two-thirds of
Botswana lies within the Tropics; it is bisected by
the Tropic of Capricorn (the imaginary line of
latitude which is 23° 30' south of Equator) just
south of the town of Mahalapye (see maps). This is
the most southern latitude where the sun is directly
overhead at noon. This happens on December 22st, the
longest day of the year in this hemisphere.
The distance between the extreme
north and the extreme south of Botswana is about
1,110 kilometres. It is 960 kilometres across at its
widest. The area of Botswana is approximately
581,730 square kilometres and is about the size of
France or Kenya. It is approximately 500 km from the
nearest coastline, to the southwest.
Botswana at a
glance
Land Area
582,000 sq. km
Population
1.6 million (1999)
Urbanisation
46%
Capital city
Gaborone 192,845('98)
Climate
Subtropical
Summer: 19-33°C, Winter: 5-23°C
Languages
Official language: English
Setswana is the national language.
Measures
Metric System
Electric Current
220 volts
Time
GMT + 2 Hours
Business Hours
Private sector
Monday - Friday: 8:00am - 5:00pm
Government offices: Monday - Friday: 7:30am -
4:30pm
Saturday: Government offices are closed but
the commercial sector opens in the morning until
1:00pm. |
