Botswana
Botswana, sometimes known as the Republic of Botswana, is a republic in Southern Africa that is completely surrounded by land. The Kalahari Desert occupies around 70 percent of Botswana's land area, contributing to the country's relatively uniform topography. It is bounded to the south and southeast by South Africa, to the west and north by Namibia, and to the northeast by Zimbabwe. It is linked to Zambia by the Kazungula Bridge, which spans the Zambezi River at the relatively short boundary.
Botswana, which has a population of only little more than 2.3 million people, is one of the nations in the world with the lowest population density. Gaborone, the nation's capital as well as its biggest city, is home to around 11.6% of the population. It was once one of the world's poorest countries, but since then it has transformed itself into an upper-middle income country with one of the world's fastest-growing economies. In the late 1960s, its GDP per capita was only about $70 per year, but today it is one of the highest-growing economies in the world.
Over 200,000 years ago, modern people established their first settlements in the nation. The Tswana ethnic group is mostly derived from Bantu-speaking tribes that moved southward out of Africa and settled in what is now Botswana about the year 600 AD. There, they lived in tribal enclaves and worked as farmers and herders. In the year 1885, the British began colonising the region and establishing it as a protectorate that they called Bechuanaland. On September 30, 1966, as part of the process of decolonization, Bechuanaland officially became an independent Commonwealth republic and adopted its present name. Since then, it has been a representative republic, with a constant record of democratic elections that have not been interrupted, and it has held the position of having the lowest perceived level of corruption in Africa since at least the year 1998.
Mining, cattle farming, and tourism are the primary contributors to the economy. As of the year 2021, Botswana has one of the highest GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita rates in Africa, coming in at around $18,113. Botswana is the nation that produces the most diamonds per capita in the world. Its comparatively high gross national income per capita offers the country a relatively high quality of life and the highest Human Development Index of any continental Sub-Saharan African nation. Some estimates place it as the fourth biggest in Africa. The Forbes 30 Under 30 and the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup were both held in Botswana, making it the first nation in Africa to do both.
Botswana is a nation that belongs to not just the United Nations but also the Commonwealth of Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the Southern African Customs Union, and the Southern African Development Community. The spread of HIV and AIDS across the nation has had a negative impact on the country. Despite the success of programmes to make treatments available and to educate the general public about how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, the number of people living with AIDS has increased from 290,000 in 2005 to 320,000 in 2013. This is a 13% increase from the number of people living with AIDS in 2005. A 20 Botswana has the third-highest prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS in 2014, with over 20% of the population being infected with the virus. However, during the last several years the nation has achieved significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Efforts have been made to offer appropriate treatment and reduce the incidence of mother-to-child transmission.