Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically 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 due to being in the midst of the Zambezi River. This border with Zambia is, at most, a few hundred metres long.
Transportation in Botswana is provided by internal and extensive network of railways, highways, ferry services and air routes that criss-cross the country.
Gaborone is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 231,626 based on the 2011 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census.
Palapye is becoming a large town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone. Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–south rail and road routes.
Air Botswana Corporation is Botswana's state-owned national flag carrier, with its headquarters located in Gaborone. It operates scheduled domestic and regional flights from its main base at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. Air Botswana has been loss-making for several years, and there have been various attempts to privatise the company, and frequent changes to the corporation's management and board, so far without reducing the losses.
The University of Botswana, popularly known as UB, was established in 1982 as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The university is divided into six faculties: Business, Education, Engineering, Humanities, Science and Social Sciences and the University of Botswana School of Medicine, a collaboration with the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Mpule Keneilwe Kwelagobe is a Botswana investor, businesswoman, model, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1999. She was the first black African woman to win one of the Big Four international beauty pageants, the first woman from Botswana to win, and the first from a nation making their debut in nearly four decades. Kwelagobe had previously been crowned Miss Botswana 1997 and Miss Universe Botswana 1999, and competed in Miss World 1997.
Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 100,079 and 150,800 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2011 census. and often described as the "Capital of the North". It is located in eastern Botswana, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone. Francistown is located at the confluence of the Tati and Inchwe rivers, and near the Shashe River and 90 kilometres from the international border with Zimbabwe. Francistown was the centre of southern Africa's first gold rush and is still surrounded by old and abandoned mines. The City of Francistown is an administrative district, separated from North-East District. It is administered by Francistown City Council.
Debswana Diamond Company Limited, or simply Debswana, is a mining company located in Botswana, and is the world's leading producer of diamonds by value. Debswana operates four diamond mines in eastern and central Botswana, as well as a coal mine. Debswana is a joint venture between the government of Botswana and the South African diamond company De Beers; each party owns 50 percent of the company.
Education in Botswana is provided by public schools and private schools. Education in Botswana is governed by Ministry of Basic Education.
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is a private international university that has a presence across Africa, Europe, and Asia. With its main campus in Malaysia, the university has over 30,000 students from more than 150 countries, studying in campuses in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Kuching, Botswana, Cambodia, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Eswatini, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.
Township Rollers Football Club is a football club based in Gaborone, Botswana. Rollers are also known as Popa, The Blues or Tse Tala, the official nicknames of the club. The club is also often referred to as Mapalastina, a nickname that developed in the 1990s but has never been officially adopted by the club. Rollers is the most successful club in Botswana football history, having won more league titles and cup competitions than any other local side. It enjoys a large support base all over the country and has been called arguably the best-supported team in Botswana.
Botswana–United States relations are the international relations between Botswana and the United States.
The Diacore Gaborone Marathon is a marathon in Gaborone, Botswana. The marathon is governed by the International Association of Athletics Federations and the Botswana Athletics Association. It is open for to ages 19 and up, and the race is a qualifier for the Comrades Marathon in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and the 2012 Olympic Marathon in London. The marathon is the second of its kind in Botswana, after the Bosele Marathon in Selebi-Phikwe.
Segametsi Mogomotsi was a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was found murdered on 6 November 1994 in Mochudi, Botswana. She went missing sometime on 5 November, and her body was found naked and mutilated in an open space the next morning. The dipheko sparked protests by the students at the Radikolo Community Junior Secondary School (RCJSS), the school where she attended, as well as among the citizens of Mochudi. The protests led to riots in neighbouring Gaborone, prompting the government of Botswana to call in the Scotland Yard. No one has been formally charged with the murder, and an official police report was conducted, but as of August 2012, the results have not yet been released. The murder inspired the stories in Unity Dow's novel The Screaming of the Innocent, Michael Stanley's mystery Deadly Harvest, and Alexander McCall Smith's novel The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Botho University is Botswana's largest private tertiary educational provider, founded in 1997. The college offers certificates, diplomas and graduate degrees in accountancy and computer science. It is the first private tertiary institution in the country to be accredited by the Tertiary Education Council (TEC). All of its programs are also accredited by the Botswana Qualification Authority (BQA). It has trained 16,000 graduates, and enrolls 4,000 students, supported by 150 academic staff.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Gaborone, Botswana.
Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi is the fifth and current President of Botswana. He served as the 8th Vice President of Botswana from November 12, 2014 to April 1, 2018. He was a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly for the Moshupa-Manyana constituency from 2009 to 2018.
Donald Leungo Gosego Molosi, is a Motswana actor, writer and playwright. Molosi debuted off-Broadway in 2010 as Philly Lutaaya in Today It's Me making him the first Motswana to perform off-Broadway. In 2011, Molosi won the Best Short Solo Award at United Solo Theatre Festival for his performance as Seretse Khama in Blue, Black and White. In 2013, Molosi returned off-Broadway to perform Motswana: Africa, Dream Again. He played supporting roles in the following historic films, A United Kingdom (2016) and Given (2009). As a playwright, Molosi has published a collection of his original off-Broadway plays, which include We Are All Blue, Blue, Black and White and Motswana: Africa, Dream Again in 2016.
