Botswana :: essays research papers

BotswanaBotswana is a inland country in southern Africa, roughly the size ofTexas. It covers 224,607 squ ar miles, soon enough contains only 1,444,000 people,making it superstar the most thinly populated countries in Africa. The eastern portionis where most people reside, because the Kalahari Desert covers almost either therest of the nation. Botswanas climate is a semiarid one, consisting of very hotsummers, and cranky winters. Flat and rolling land make up the topography ofBotswana, with the Kalahari in the southwest. in that respect are several major ethnic 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 rough 10,000 of the Sanpeople, or Bushmen. Some San are hunter-gatherers, and some are farmers.Several kilobyte whites are also included in Botswanas population. Most are ofBritis h descent. Most whites earn more money wherefore the blacks, and this causessome racial tension. Although English is the official language of Botswana, mostpeople speak Setswana, a Bantu language. Eighty-five percentage of Botswanaspeople practice traditional African religions, while the rest are Christian.Most Botswanan children attend main(a) school, but 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 say independent. Its officialname is The Republic 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 today diamondmining is controlling th e economy, despite a 25 percent 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 currencythe pula. One pula is disturb to about 1.8 U.