Botswana

Botswana covers 581,730 km2 and borders South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is landlocked and mostly flat, sitting on a high plateau at around 1,000 m.

The Kalahari covers around 70 per cent of the country. The Okavango Delta in the north-west is the largest inland delta in the world. The Makgadikgadi salt pans in the centre are among the largest salt flats anywhere.

Botswana is semi-arid with hot summers and mild, dry winters. Summer temperatures regularly exceed 35C, and winter nights in the Kalahari can drop below freezing.

Rain falls between November and March and is unpredictable, which makes farming difficult. The Okavango Delta floods in the middle of the dry season, because the water takes months to travel from the Angolan highlands.

There are numerous fascinating landmarks, monuments and buildings in Botswana including the Three Chiefs' Statues, Khawai River Bridge, Christ the King Cathedral, Iskcon (temple / palace), Matsieng's Footprints, National Assembly Building, Tsodilo Hills (rock paintings and caves), religious sites, churches and temples.

Tourism in Botswana centres mainly around the capital city of Gaborone where there are numerous activities, landmarks and attractions for visitors to enjoy. Tourists are well catered for in this busy city which features luxurious hotels, casinos, restaurants, golf courses, museums, as well as an amusement park, nature reserve, fishing club and yacht club.

Botswana is famous for being one of the leading producers of gem stones and diamonds, boasting the richest diamond mine in the world. The country is known for its beautiful nature reserves, the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta which are home to hundreds of species of animals and plants.

Setswana is the national language and English is official. Around 79 per cent of the population is Tswana.

Around 79 per cent of Batswana are Christian. The San peoples of the Kalahari have some of the oldest continuous cultural traditions on Earth, and their languages use click consonants. Basketry woven from mokola palm is a distinctive craft.

The earliest human inhabitants of Botswana were the Bushmen and Khoi people who began occupying this region of Africa over 100,000 years ago. Before European settlers started to arrive, the African people lived as farmers and herders, and formed numerous tribes. Europeans began arriving in Botswana during the 1700s when the ivory and slave trades were growing. King Shaka of the Zulu Empire prepared an army in readiness for their arrival. When the Europeans arrived, tribal groups managed to form trade deals by offering them skins and ivory in exchange for guns.

Diamonds are the foundation of the economy. Botswana is one of the world's largest producers by value, and the government partnership with De Beers has funded schools, hospitals and roads.

Beef exports and, increasingly, high-value low-volume safari tourism in the Okavango and Chobe are the other main earners. Botswana is regarded as one of Africa's least corrupt and most stable countries.

A light blue field crossed horizontally through the middle by a black band with a thin white stripe on each side.

The blue stands for water and for rain, which is precious in a country this dry: the national motto is Pula, meaning rain, and it is also the name of the currency. The black and white bands stand for the harmony between the country's people, and echo the stripes of the zebra on the coat of arms.