General information:
Embaixada de Botsuana
info@botbraz.org.br
Endereço: SHIS QI 9, Conjunto 17, Casa 16 – Lago Sul
Brasília – DFCEP: 70316-000
Tel.: (61) 3366-5563 / 3248-1584
Fax: (61) 3120-1271
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.
A country of slightly over 2.3 million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely
populated countries in the world. About 11.6 percent of the population lives in the
capital and largest city, Gaborone. Formerly one of the world’s poorest countries—with
a GDP per capita of about US$70 per year in the late 1960s—it has since transformed
itself into an upper-middle-income country, with one of the world’s fastest-growing
economies.
Modern-day humans first inhabited the country over 200,000 years ago. The Tswana
ethnic group were descended mainly from Bantu-speaking tribes who migrated
southward of Africa to modern Botswana around 600 AD, living in tribal enclaves as
farmers and herders. In 1885, the British colonised the area and declared a
protectorate under the name of Bechuanaland. As decolonisation occurred,
Bechuanaland became an independent Commonwealth republic under its current
name on 30 September 1966. Since then, it has been a representative republic, with a
consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections and the lowest perceived
corruption ranking in Africa since at least 1998.
The economy is dominated by mining, cattle, and tourism. Botswana has a GDP
(purchasing power parity) per capita of about $18,113 as of 2021, one of the highest in
Africa. Botswana is the world's biggest diamond producing country. Its relatively high
gross national income per capita gives the country a relatively high standard of living
and the highest Human Development Index of continental Sub-Saharan Africa.
Botswana is the first African country to host Forbes 30 Under 30 and the 2017 Netball
World Youth Cup.
Botswana is a member of the African Union, the Southern African Customs Union, the
Southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the
United Nations. The country has been adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Despite the success in programs to make treatments available, and to educate the
populace about how to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, the number of people with AIDS
rose from 290,000 in 2005 to 320,000 in 2013. As of 2014, Botswana had the third-
highest prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS, with roughly 20% of the population infected.
However, in recent years the country has made strides in combatting HIV/AIDS, with
efforts being made to provide proper treatment and lower the rate of mother-to-child
transmission.
