Country · Africa
Botswana
Republic of Botswana
Botswana is a country in Southern Africa. About 2.3 million people live there, in an area of 582 000 square kilometres. Its capital city is Gaborone.
Picture credit: Vaughan McShane (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Ttakhwiri (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Sikolethu (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Iulus Ascanius (Public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Botswana?
Botswana lies in Southern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 2 449 km from the equator.
Botswana is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 4 countries: Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
How big is Botswana?
Botswana covers 582 000 square kilometres.
That is about 5.7 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 46th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 3.9 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Botswana?
About 2.3 million people live in Botswana.
That is the 141st biggest population in the world.
People here speak English and Tswana.
They pay with the Botswana pula (P).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 39 years.
The land of Botswana
The land of Botswana sits on average 1 013 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 4 neighbours to get here.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Botswana different?
A dish the country is known for: Seswaa.
Websites from here often end in .bw.
Botswana and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Botswana.
It takes up about 0.44 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 22nd of 54 by size, and 43rd by population.
Botswana and its neighbours
South Africa, its largest neighbour, is about 2.1 times bigger.
South Africa has more people: 57.8 million against 2.3 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 19 live wild in Botswana: Lion, African elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippopotamus, Cheetah and more. The highest mountain in the country is Monalanong Hill, at 1 494 metres. The longest river in the country is the Okavango. The largest lake in the country is Lake Ngami.
Lion
African elephant
Giraffe
Zebra
Hippopotamus
Cheetah
Meerkat
African buffalo
Nile crocodile
Dung beetle
Aardvark
Blue wildebeest
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Botswana compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 16 times as big as Botswana: 9 372 610 km² against 582 000 km².
- Botswana is about 2.4 times as big as the United Kingdom: 582 000 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Botswana?
The capital of Botswana is Gaborone. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Botswana?
About 2.3 million people live in Botswana, which makes it the 141st most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Botswana?
Botswana borders Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe — 4 neighbours in total.
How big is Botswana?
Botswana covers 582 000 square kilometres, making it the 46th largest country in the world. That is about 5.7 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Botswana?
The highest mountain in Botswana is Monalanong Hill, 1 494 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Botswana?
The longest river in Botswana is the Okavango, about 1 600 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Botswana?
The largest lake in Botswana is Lake Ngami. It covers about 50 km².
Which continent is Botswana in?
Botswana is in Africa, in the part called Southern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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