FOOD

The cuisine of Botswana is unique but also shares some characteristics with other cuisine of Southern Africa. Examples of Botswana food are pap,boerewors,samp,vetkoek and mophane worms. A food unique to Botswana includes seswaa which is mostly cooked in the special aoccations such as weedings and funerals, heavily salted mashed-up meat.again different tribes differs in what they eat.

TOURISM IN BOTSWANA

The Botswana Tourism Organization is the country's official tourism group. Primarily, tourists visit Gaborone due to the city having numerous activities for visitors. Hotels include; The Lonrho Lansmore Masa Square, a 5-Star hotel, and The Gaborone Sun, a luxury hotel that also features a casino. The Lion Park Resort is Botswana's first permanent amusement park and hosts events such as birthday parties for families. In Botswana, there are also destinations which include; The Gaborone Yacht Club and The Kalahari Fishing Club. In addition, natural attractions for tourists in Botswana include; The Gaborone Dam and Mokolodi Nature Reserve. There are golf courses which are maintained by the Botswana Golf Union (BGU). The Phakalane Golf Estate is a multi-million dollar clubhouse that offers both hotel accommodations and access to golf courses.

MeseumS in Botswana include;

• Botswana National Museum in Gaborone
• Kgosi Bathoen II (Segopotso) Museum in Kanye
• Kgosi Sechele I Museum in Molepolole
• Khama III Memorial Museum in Serowe
• Nhabe Museum in Maun
• Phuthadikobo Museum in Mochudi
• Supa Ngwano Museum Centre in Francistown
  

VISUAL ARTS

In the northern part of Botswana, women in the villages of Etsha and Gumare are noted for their skill at crafting baskets from Botswana from Makola Palm and local dyes. The baskets are generally woven into three types: large, lidded baskets used for storage, large, open baskets for carrying objects on the head or for winnowing threshed grain, and smaller plates for winnowing pounded grain. The artistry of these baskets is being steadily enhanced through colour use and improved designs as they are increasingly produced for commercial use.

Other notable artistic communities include Thamaga Pottery and Oodi Weavers, both located in the south-eastern part of Botswana.

The oldest paintings from both Botswana and South Africa depict hunting, animal and human figures, and were made by the Khoisan (! Kung San/Bushmen) over twenty thousand years ago within the Kalahari Desert.

MUSIC

Botswana music is mostly vocal and performed sometimes without drums depending on the occasion; it also makes heavy use of string instruments. Botswana folk music has instruments such as Setinkane (a Botswana version of miniature piano), Segankure/Segaba (a Botswana version of the Chinese instrument Erhu), Moropa (Meropa -plural) (a Botswana version of the many varieties of drums), phala (a Botswana version of a whistle used mostly during celebrations. It comes in variety of forms too). Botswana cultural musical instruments are not confined only to the strings or drums. The hands are used as musical instruments too, by either clapping them together or against phathisi( goat skin turned inside out wrapped around the calf area; it is only used by men) to create music and rhythm. For the last few decades, the guitar has been celebrated as a versatile music instrument for Tswana music as it offers a variety in string which the Segaba instrument does not have. It is the outsider that found a home within the culture. The highlight of any celebration or event that shows especially happiness is the dancing. This differs by regime, age, gender and status in the group or if it's a tribal activity, your status in the community. The national anthem is Fatshe leno la rona. Written and composed by Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete, it was adopted upon independence in 1966

RELIGION

An estimated 70% of the country's citizens identify themselves as Christians. Anglicans, Methodists, and the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa make up the majority of Christians. There are also congregations of Lutherans, Baptists, the Dutch Reformed Church, Mennonites, Roman Catholics, Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses in the country. In Gaborone, there is a Lutheran History Centre which is open to the public.

According to the 2001 census, the country has around 5,000 Muslims, mainly from South Asia, 3,000 Hindus and 700 Baha`is. Approximately 20% of citizens espouse no religion. Religious services are well attended in both rural and urban areas.

LANGUAGE

The Tswana are the majority ethnic group in Botswana, making up 79% of the population. The largest minority ethnic groups are the BaKalanga,San or AbaThwa also known as Basarwa. Other tribes are Bayei, Bambukushu,Basubia, Baherero and Bakgalagadi. In addition, there are small numbers of whites and Indians, both groups being roughly equally small in number. Botswana`sIndian population is made up of many Indian-Africans of several generations, from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, South Africa, and so on, as well as first generation Indian immigrants. The white population speaks English and makes up roughly 3% of the population.

Since 2000, because of deteriorating economic conditions in Zimbabwe, the number of Zimbabwens in Botswana has risen into the tens of thousands.

Fewer than 10,000 San are still living the traditional hunter-gatherer style of life. Since the mid-1990s the central government of Botswana has been trying to move San out of their lands. The UN's top official on indigenous rights Prof. James Anaya, condemned Botswana's actions toward the San in a report released in February 2010.

DEMOGRAPHICS

The Tswana are the majority ethnic group in Botswana, making up 79% of the population. The largest minority ethnic groups are the BaKalanga,San or AbaThwa also known as Basarwa. Other tribes are Bayei, Bambukushu,Basubia, Baherero and Bakgalagadi. In addition, there are small numbers of whites and Indians, both groups being roughly equally small in number. Botswana`sIndian population is made up of many Indian-Africans of several generations, from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, South Africa, and so on, as well as first generation Indian immigrants. The white population speaks English and makes up roughly 3% of the population.

Since 2000, because of deteriorating economic conditions in Zimbabwe, the number of Zimbabwens in Botswana has risen into the tens of thousands.

Fewer than 10,000 San are still living the traditional hunter-gatherer style of life. Since the mid-1990s the central government of Botswana has been trying to move San out of their lands. The UN's top official on indigenous rights Prof. James Anaya, condemned Botswana's actions toward the San in a report released in February 2010.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The Constitution of Botswana is the rule of law which protects the citizens of Botswana and represents their rights. The politics of Botswana take place in a framework of a representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Botswana is both head of state and the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Botswana. The most recent election. , its eleventh, was held on 24 October 2014.

Since independence was declared, the party system has been dominated by the Botswana Democratic Party. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Botswana ranks 30th out of 167 states in the 2012 Democracy Index. According to Transparency international, Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa and ranks similarly close to Portugal and South Korea

THE ENVIRONMENT

Botswana faces two major environmental problems: drought and desertification. The desertification problems predominantly stem from the severe times of drought in the country. Three quarters of the country's human and animal populations depend on groundwater due to drought. Groundwater use through deep borehole drilling has somewhat eased the effects of drought. Surface water is scarce in Botswana and less than 5% of the agriculture in the country is sustainable by rainfall. In the remaining 95% of the country, raising livestock is the primary source of rural income. Approximately 71% of the country's land is used for communal grazing, which has been a major cause of the desertification and the accelerating soil erosion of the country.

Since raising livestock has proven to be profitable for the people of Botswana, the land continues to be exploited. The animal populations have continued to dramatically increase. From 1966 to 1991 the livestock population has increased from 1.7 million to 5.5 million. Similarly, the human population has increased from 574,000 in 1971 to 1.5 million in 1995, nearly a 200% increase. "Over 50% of all households in Botswana own cattle, which is currently the largest single source of rural income." "Rangeland degradation or desertification is regarded as the reduction in land productivity as a result of overstocking and overgrazing or as a result of veld product gathering for commercial use. Degradation is exacerbated by the effects of drought and climate change." Environmentalists report that the Okavango Delta is drying up due to the increased grazing of livestock. The Okavango Delta is one of the major semi-forested wetlands in Botswana and one of the largest inland deltas in the world; it is a crucial ecosystem to the survival of many animals

Geography

At 581,730 km² (224,607 sq. mi) Botswana is the world's 48th-largest country. It is comparable in size to Madagascar or France. It lies between latitudes 17° and 27°S, and longitudes 20° and 30°E.

The country is predominantly flat, tending toward gently rolling tableland. Botswana is dominated by the Kalahari Desert, which covers up to 70% of its land surface. The Okavango Delta, one of the world's largest inland deltas, is in the northwest. The Makgadikgadi Pan, a large salt pans, lies in the north.

The Limpopo River Basin, the major landform of all of southern Africa, lies partly in Botswana, with the basins of its tributaries, the Notwane, Bonwapitse, Mahalapwe, Lotsane,Motloutse and the Shashe, located in the eastern part of the country. The Notwane provides water to the capital through the Gaborone dam. The Chobe River lies to the north, providing a boundary between Botswana and Namibia's Zambezi Region. The Chobe River meets with the Zambezi River at a place called Kazungula (meaning a small sausage tree, a point where Sebitwane and his Makololo tribe crossed the Zambezi into Zambia).

BOTSWANA

The name of my country is Botswana officially known as the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked located in Southern Africa. The citizens refer to themselves as Batswana or Motswana in singular. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966 Since then, it has maintained a strong tradition as a stable representative democracy, with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections.

Geographically, Botswana is flat, with up to 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Its border with Zambia to the north near Kazungula is poorly defined but at most is a few hundred meters long

 My country is a mid-sized country of just over two million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely nations in the world. Around 10 percent of the population lives in the capital and largest city, Gaborone. Once one of the poorest countries in the world—with a GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late 1960s—Botswana has since transformed itself into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, now boasting a GDP per capita of about $16,400 per year as of 2013. Its high gross national income (by some estimates the fourth-largest in Africa) gives the country a modest standard of living and the highest Human Development Index of continental Sub-Saharan Africa

Botswana is a member of the African union, the southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations. Despite its political stability and relative socioeconomic prosperity, the country is among the hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with around a quarter of the population estimated to be infected^.