Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 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. It is connected by the Kazungula Bridge to Zambia, across the world's shortest border between two countries.
Gaborone is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census.
Palapye is a growing 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.
The University of Botswana (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, Health Sciences, Science and Social Sciences and the Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital.
Education in Botswana is provided by public schools and private schools. Education in Botswana is governed by the Ministries of Basic Education. and Tertiary, Research Science and Technology Among sub-Saharan African countries, Botswana has one of the highest literacy rates. According to The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency as of 2015, 88.5% of the population age 15 and over can read and write in Botswana were respectively literate.
Before the arrival of European settlers, who introduced a formal education system addressed to the elites, education in Ghana was mainly informal and based on apprenticeship. Economic activities in pre-colonial Ghana were based on farm produce shared within households and members of each household specialized in providing necessities such as cooking utilities, shelter, clothing, and furniture, and trade with other households was therefore practiced on a very small scale. As such there was no need for employment outside the household that would have otherwise called for disciplines, values, and skills through a formal education system. After colonization, Ghana's economy became a hybrid of subsistence and formal economy.
Botswana Railways (BR) is the national railway of Botswana.
Limkokwing University of Creative Technology is a private 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.
Linah Kelebogile Mohohlo was a Botswana banker and university chancellor. She was the first female Governor of the Bank of Botswana from 1999 to 2016. She was also the first female Chancellor of the University of Botswana, serving from 2017 to 2021.
Botswana–South Africa relations refers to the historical and current relationship of Botswana and South Africa. Botswana has a high commission in Pretoria, and South Africa has a high commission in Gaborone. Both countries are former British colonies and members of the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The Botswana Accountancy College, or BAC, is a business school headquartered in the city of Gaborone, Botswana. Initially funded and established through a joint venture between Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and Debswana, the college caters for the accountancy and information technology tertiary needs of the country. The Botswana Accountancy College asserts itself as the center of excellence in Southern Africa and beyond. It specializes in areas of accounting, finance, business, management, hospitality, taxation, leisure and ICT. BAC has two campuses; the main campus is in Gaborone and the other in Francistown.The Gaborone Campus is located in the Fairgrounds Office Park of south-east Gaborone.
The Botswana International University of Science & Technology, or BIUST, is an international university located in the town of Palapye, Botswana. It is the nation's second university, after the University of Botswana in the country's capital, Gaborone. The location is a 2,500-hectare (9.7 sq mi) site of gently sloping land on the outskirts of Palapye.
The Ministry of Education and Skills Development is a government ministry of Botswana. Its offices are in Gaborone. The Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research Science and Technology exists to provide and build knowledge and innovation through the development and implementation of policy on Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology to transform Botswana in to a knowledge based society through effective stakeholder collaboration
Dumelang Saleshando is a politician from Botswana who served as the Leader of the Opposition of Botswana from 2019-2022. He was replaced by Dithapelo Keorapetse.
NIIT University is a private university founded in 2009. It is located in Neemrana Rajasthan in India. It was founded by Mr. Rajendra Singh Pawar, Chairman of NIIT Ltd and NIIT Technologies Ltd.
Mater Spei College is a government-aided Catholic secondary school located in Francistown, Botswana. It educates a mixture of boarding and day scholar students in grades (11-12) or form 4 and form 5.
The Ministry of Defence and Security of Botswana aims to provide safety, protection and promote human rights and rule of law via the implementation of pertinent policies and programming in order to achieve peace and tranquility. The ministry oversees the following departments:
Kgomotso Hildegard Moahi, is an academic and academic administrator in Botswana, who serves as a full professor and deputy vice chancellor – student services at the Botswana Open University. She has previously served in the Department of Library and Information Studies, at the University of Botswana, the country's largest public university as the chair of the department of information studies, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and as member of the Council of the University of Botswana. For a period of nine months in 2017, Moahi served as the acting vice chancellor of the university.
Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) formally known as Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA) is an agricultural University located in Gaborone, Botswana.
Botswana continued to address the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, including the discovery of the COVID-19 variant Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, with COVID-19 restrictions being relaxed in October. Continued disputes took place regarding the Botswana–Namibia border, though an open border was established in September. The rivalry between President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor Ian Khama escalated in 2022, accelerated by firearms charges against Khama and a warrant for his arrest. The government also saw controversy for its support of bills that would grant it additional espionage powers and regulate journalists.
