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

Zambia recently suspended taxes on petrol and diesel imports, while Botswana scrapped fuel levies for six months to cushion consumers from price rises.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 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 has perhaps been the most ardent in its ambition to acquire a controlling stake in the company that oversees the world trade in the stones on which its economy depends.

From Barron's • Feb. 8, 2026

Botswana, a country that is 70-percent desert, was lifted out of poverty after diamonds were discovered in the 1960s.

From Barron's • Jan. 21, 2026

The market was encircled with idling buses and long lines of people waiting to go to Harare or Bulawayo, or to other countries like Mozambique, Botswana, or South Africa.

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