and hot summers
_#_Terrain: predominately flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest
_#_Natural resources: diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver, natural gas
_#_Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 75%; forest and woodland 2%; other 21%; includes irrigated NEGL%
_#_Environment: rains in early 1988 broke six years of drought that had severely affected the important cattle industry; overgrazing; desertification
_#_Note: landlocked
_*People #_Population: 1,258,392 (July 1991), growth rate 2.7% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 36 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 43 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 65 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 4.6 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun and adjective—Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural)
_#_Ethnic divisions: Batswana 95%; Kalanga, Basarwa, and Kgalagadi about 4%; white about 1%
_#_Religion: indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 50%
_#_Language: English (official), Setswana
_#_Literacy: 23% (male 32%, female 16%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 400,000; 182,200 formal sector employees, most others are engaged in cattle raising and subsistence agriculture (1988 est.); 19,000 are employed in various mines in South Africa (1988)
_#_Organized labor: 19 trade unions
_*Government #_Long-form name: Republic of Botswana
_#_Type: parliamentary republic
_#_Capital: Gaborone
_#_Administrative divisions: 10 districts; Central, Chobe, Ghanzi,
Kgalagadi, Kgatleng, Kweneng, Ngamiland, North-East, South-East,
Southern; note—in addition, there may now be 4 town councils named
Francistown, Gaborone, Lobaste, Selebi-Pikwe
_#_Independence: 30 September 1966 (from UK; formerly Bechuanaland)
_#_Constitution: March 1965, effective 30 September 1966
_#_Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law and local customary law; judicial review limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: Botswana Day, 30 September (1966)
_#_Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly consists of an upper house or House of Chiefs and a lower house or National Assembly
_#_Judicial branch: High Court, Court of Appeal
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government—President Quett K. J. MASIRE (since 13 July 1980); Vice President Peter S. MMUSI (since 3 January 1983)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), Quett MASIRE;
Botswana National Front (BNF), Kenneth KOMA;
Botswana People's Party (BPP), Knight MARIPE;
Botswana Independence Party (BIP), Motsamai MPHO
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 21
_#_Elections:
President—last held 7 October 1989 (next to be held October
1994);
results—President Quett K. J. MASIRE was reelected by the National
Assembly;
National Assembly—last held 7 October 1989 (next to be held October 1994); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(38 total, 34 elected) BDP 35, BNF 3
_#_Communists: no known Communist organization; Kenneth Koma of BNF has long history of Communist contacts
_#_Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77, GATT, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
LORCS, NAM, OAU, SACU, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO,
WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Botsweletse Kingsley SEBELE; Chancery at Suite 404, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 244–4990 or 4991;
US—Ambassador David PASSAGE; Embassy at Botswana Road, Gaborone (mailing address is P. O. Box 90, Gaborone); telephone [267] 353–982 through 353–984
_#_Flag: light blue with a horizontal white-edged black stripe in the center
_*Economy #_Overview: The economy has historically been based on cattle raising and crops. Agriculture today provides a livelihood for over 80% of the population, but produces only about 50% of food needs and contributes a small 3% to GDP. The driving force behind the rapid economic growth of the 1970s and 1980s has been the mining industry. This sector, mostly on the strength of diamonds, has gone from generating 25% of GDP in 1980 to over 50% in 1989. No other sector has experienced such growth, especially not agriculture, which is plagued by erratic rainfall and poor soils. The unemployment rate remains a problem at 25%.
_#_GDP: $3.1 billion, per capita $2,500; real growth rate 6.3% (1990)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.0% (1990)
_#_Unemployment rate: 25% (1989)
_#_Budget: revenues $1,719 million; expenditures $1,792 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92 est.)
_#_Exports: $1.8 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities—diamonds 77%, copper and nickel 12%, meat 4%, cattle, animal products;
partners—Switzerland, UK, US, SACU (Southern African Customs Union)
_#_Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities—foodstuffs, vehicles and transport equipment, textiles, petroleum products;
partners—Switzerland, SACU (Southern African Customs Union), UK, US
_#_External debt: $780 million (December 1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 16.8% (FY86); accounts for about 57% of GDP, including mining
_#_Electricity: 217,000 kW capacity; 630 million kWh produced, 510 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: mining of diamonds, copper, nickel, coal, salt, soda ash, potash; livestock processing
_#_Agriculture: accounts for only 3% of GDP; subsistence farming predominates; cattle raising supports 50% of the population; must import large share of food needs
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–89), $257 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–88), $1.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979–89), $43 million; Communist countries (1970–89), $29 million
_#_Currency: pula (plural—pula); 1 pula (P) = 100 thebe
_#_Exchange rates: pula (P) per US$1—1.8720 (January 1991), 1.8601 (1990), 2.0125 (1989), 1.8159 (1988), 1.6779 (1987), 1.8678 (1986), 1.8882 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
_*Communications #_Railroads: 712 km 1.0 67-meter gauge
_#_Highways: 11,514 km total; 1,600 km paved; 1,700 km crushed stone or gravel, 5,177 km improved