Botswana

American  

[bot-swah-nuh] / bɒtˈswɑ nə /

noun

1. a republic in southern Africa: formerly a British protectorate; gained independence 1966; member of the Commonwealth of Nations. 275,000 sq. mi. (712,250 sq. km). Gaborone.

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Botswana British  

/ bɒt-, bʊtˈswɑːnə, bʊˈtʃwɑːnə /

noun

1. a republic in southern Africa: established as the British protectorate of Bechuanaland in 1885 as a defence against the Boers; became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1966; consists mostly of a plateau averaging 1000 m (3300 ft), with the extensive Okavango swamps in the northwest and the Kalahari Desert in the southwest. Languages: English and Tswana. Religion: animist majority. Currency: pula. Capital: Gaborone. Pop: 2 127 825 (2013 est). Area: about 570 000 sq km (220 000 sq miles)

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Botswana Cultural  

1. Republic in south-central Africa, bordered on the south by South Africa, the west by Namibia, the north by Angola and Zambia, and the northeast by Zimbabwe; formerly called Bechuanaland. The capital and largest city is Gaborone.

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Discover More

Botswana became independent from British control in the 1960s.

Example Sentences

Sierra Leone has no national policy guaranteeing free sanitary products in schools - unlike Kenya, Botswana, South Africa and Zambia.

From BBC • May 17, 2026

In 2015, 10 senior squad players refused to return home after playing a World Cup qualifying match in Botswana.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

However, in 2014 he abdicated, two years after it had emerged he had been elephant hunting in Botswana with Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, who had been his mistress, during an economic crisis in Spain.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026

Botswana and its president, Duma Boko, De Beers' biggest producer partner with a 15-percent holding, led a determined push to finalise a deal by last year but to no avail.

From Barron's • Feb. 8, 2026

“Rhodesia,” she said, pointing to a teakettle-shaped country in the southern part of Africa above a place called Botswana and next to one called Mozambique.

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda